


Someone to You

by Katiee61



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiee61/pseuds/Katiee61
Summary: 'Just do it’, she thought to herself, “Gideon, call Agent Sharpe, please?”“Of course, Captain Lance. Calling Agent Sharpe.”An answer never came.The agent had never missed a call from The Waverider. Usually, if Ava was unavailable the call request was noticeably ignored and followed up with a simple out of office message. Otherwise, it was diverted and picked up by Gary, this time it just rang out.A feeling of unease grew within the blonde.





	1. Chapter One

> _“After losing Stein, I can’t lose anyone else.” – Sara Lance._

* * *

“Gideon, take us back to the Temporal Zone, please.”

Sara entered the bridge, her hands running loosely through her hair as she sucked in a heavy sigh. She poured herself a glass of scotch before taking a seat in her leather chair, it had quickly become one of her favourite spots on the ship. The blonde was never one for feelings, especially ever since the Gambit went down, but saying goodbye to Jax was hard and was taking its toll on her, it served as a very sore reminder of Stein and the team’s many losses over the last year.

The rest of team continued celebrating in the galley whilst she said one last goodbye to the teammate she now considered a little brother. It was good for them, they needed it, and the holidays served as the perfect way for Sara to encourage her team to have a few drinks, unwind and have some fun after everything they’ve been through. Even with everything that was happening, a single thought continuously niggled in the back of her mind, an unabating desire to know how one woman was spending her evening. She had been playing with the idea of inviting Ava Sharpe to the party ever since the agent helped the legends out with their last mission.

‘ _Fuck it, just do it’,_ she thought to herself. “Gideon, call Agent Sharpe please?”

“Of course, Captain Lance. Calling Agent Sharpe.”

Sara sat up taking another sip of the warm amber liquor in her glass as she waited patiently, staring at the blank screen behind her desk

An answer never came.

“Guess _'Little Miss Time Bureau_ _'_  actually has a life outside of work,” Sara smirked to herself, pushing any disappointment she was feeling aside. It may have taken a few minutes, but the unanswered call didn’t feel right, it left Sara pondering the sense of unease amounting in the pit of her stomach. The agent had never missed a call from the Waverider. Usually, if Ava was unavailable the call request was noticeably ignored and followed up with a simple out of office message. Otherwise, it was diverted and picked up by Gary, this time it just rang out.

“Gideon, can you send Agent Sharpe an SOS message and try calling her again,” Sara commanded, knowing even if the agent was off the clock and for some reason missed the call, she would never miss a second chance to act all smug about the legends coming to her, for help. Outside of the few conversations they’ve shared, Sara might not know the agent very well, but she knew her well enough to know the blonde would never ignore a SOS message.

“I’m sorry Captain, the call remains unanswered,” Gideon replied.

The feeling of unease grew within the blonde.

“Somethings off,” she spoke aloud, pacing anxiously around the room trying to come up with a logical explanation. “Gideon, any ideas?”

“If it’s of any value Captain Lance, I believe there is reason to your unease. Agent Sharpe’s time courier GPS system appears to be offline, something which The Time Bureau discourages greatly. I can backtrack Agent Sharpe’s last jump position, I had her input her courier details whilst helping with the last mission, I should be able to use her last logged signal to triangulate her location. Then it’s a matter of reviewing camera footage in that area to ensure the agent is safe,” Gideon explained.

“Okay, yes, sounds good. Thank you, Gideon,” Sara acknowledged the AI system.

“Captain Lance, you might want to take a look at this,” the AI spoke just minutes after their plan had come together. Gideon pulled up a screen and projected a blurry black and white video onto it, the camera quality wasn’t great, but Sara could immediately recognise the image as one of the dark and dimly lit streets of Star City, before noticing a familiar figure appear onscreen.

“Damien Darhk,” her voice tense, “Gideon, round up the team and make a heading for Star City any time before Darhk gets there and we can extract Agent Sharpe before he lays a hand on her”

“I’m sorry Captain Lance, I suspect Damien Darkh knew we would catch on to his ploy. Given Mallus’ powerful abilities he has manipulated time, ultimately making time in Star City undeterminable, making it impossible to plot an accurate time jump in order to intercept Darhk's movements. It’s as if he has somehow deleted time from Star City, we can only jump to the present moment,” Gideon explained.

“Fine, put me through to Team Arrow. Oliver can get there quicker…” Sara requested urgently, her knuckles whitening as she grasped the edge of her desk, frustration mounting.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that either, Captain Lance. Mallus has also temporarily deleted the timeline where Oliver Queen becomes the Green Arrow,"

“Of course, he fucking did,” Sara’s head fell forward in a wave of defeat. Anger quickly washed over her as she swiped the whiskey glass off her table, shards of glass decorating the floor after a sharp crash. "If Oliver never became The Green Arrow, why the hell am I still captaining this ship?"

"I suspect the reason why the timeline change disaffects you, Captain Lance, may have been done on purpose. Damien Darhk seems to have a fondness for messing with your head and testing you, Miss Lance" Gideon returned, Sara pacing the room.

“Fine, let’s go. Call the team. If Damien wants a fight, lets bring him a fight”.

* * *

“Ah yes, I knew it was merely a matter of time before the magnificent seven came to town… although it is nice to see Mr Jackson gained some sense and abandoned your ship, _Captain_ Lance.” Darhk sniggered wickedly. “However, you should know that your new agent friend put up quite the fight, she’s got an impressive sailor’s mouth on her too. I bet she fits right in with you bunch of clowns”

“Where is she, Damien? Your business is with us, remember?” Sara spat back.

“Oh Miss Lance, how you’re sorely mistaken. She’s my way into the Time Bureau and my chance to finally kill Rip Hunter… Controlling all of time is going to be so much fun,” his voice hissed, flashing his sickly bright white teeth in a sly smile. Nate quickly lost his patience with Darhk’s games, turning to steel he lunged forward, but Damien was quick to send his body flying into the nearest wall.

“I sense an affection in your eyes for this woman, Sara. You’re weak, Miss Lance, and I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I take the life of another person you care about. You might like to know, in this very timeline, crafted ever so beautifully by Mallus, your sister is still alive and well. I believe she was just offered the role of District Attorney. Perhaps, I should pay her a visit, I’m feeling a tad nostalgic,” Darhk remarked viciously, turning his attention to Mick and Leo who had their weapons pointed in his direction both ready to pull the trigger.

“Ray! Now!” Sara shouted, charging forward while pulling out a 9mm firing at Darhk as she and The Atom advanced hoping to get in a hit whilst he was distracted by Citizen Cold and Heatwave.

“It’s funny how you think you have a real chance, Miss Lance.” Darhk’s tone laced with condescension and arrogance, he easily deflected the bullets she had fired towards him. Thankfully, the team effort provided just enough of a distraction and Ray was able to get a hit in. Sara sprinted forward, taking her opportunity as she whipped a sword out from behind her back, charging towards Damien, determination fueling a look of fury in her eyes.

“Where is she?!” Sara’s voice was laced with venom, her sword vibrating under his chin. It would only take a simple flick of her wrist to slice his throat then and there, “I will kill you, you son of a bitch”.

“Let’s just say I was feeling a little sentimental,” Damien said on a maniacal chuckle, clicking his fingers as a projection appeared on the wall behind them.

“Iron Heights,” Sara shouted, recognising the setting immediately, she knew Zari and Amaya were sitting on comms awaiting the agent’s location, so they could go get her the second they got the go ahead. Sara’s eyes took in the image of the suited blonde tied to a chair in the middle of the prisons’ dayroom, Darhk no doubt, the reason behind the many slaughtered prison guards seen lying on the ground. Ava was desperately struggling to free herself, fighting aggressively against the ropes which held her against the chair.

“Tick tock… not long now. The bomb was Norah’s idea, I thought it might be a little too impersonal, I guess I’ll always have a kindred affection for arrows but seeing the helplessness in all your eyes right now, the idea has more than grown on me. Norah’s recovering well by the way, she sends her regards,” Damien laughed callously.

Sara was ready to slice Darhk’s throat when her body became frozen, her sword sent flying across the alley as his burning stare zeroed in on her. With Sara left helpless, the rest of the team charged in, Leo and Mick working together as Nate grabbed a trashcan picking it up with ease and throwing it towards Damien, Ray once again by Sara’s flank and was able to get another hit in on Darhk, before he too was send flying in the opposite direction. The team’s attack, and Ray’s hit, gave Sara a second opportunity to get a solid punch in and a knife through Damien’s chest, the second she felt the blade pierce his skin he dissipated beneath her grasp.

“Ray, can you fly to Iron heights, Amaya and Zari should be there by now?” Sara questioned, Ray shaking his head with a frustrated no, his exo suit had taken a bad hit from Darhk, but he quickly went about maintaining his suit in the hope he could get it back online in time.

“Come on, Ava, think of something… just do something, please get out of this,” Sara whispered under her breath. The team were completely helpless in that moment and could only watch on with bated breath. The Time Bureau Agent’s eyes seemed to scan the room for a moment, she was just about able to stand as she quickly charged against the wall, the image on the screen had no sound, but the painful screech could be heard in the suited blonde's pained expression. A broken shoulder gave her just enough leeway to release her hands from the ropes and free the rest of her body, standing unsteady clutching at her arm, she ran towards the main door. It all seemed to happen in a millisecond, it may have been too late as a fiery blast enveloped the screen before it turned to black.

Sara struggled to watch, flinching inwardly, slamming her eyes shut. She took a step backwards to steady herself, Leo’s hand fell to her back and was quick to offer support, strengthening her stance.

“Amaya, Zari, please tell me you’re okay?” Sara’s voice a little shaky, but she hid it well as she called out into her comms.

“We are both fine. We just got inside… Sara, she’s not here…” Amaya responded, confusion hanging on her words.

“Is it Darkh?” Nate raised the question on everyone’s lips.

“If I may interrupt Legends, it seems Agent Sharpe has time jumped onto the ship, she is badly hurt and bleeding but remains semi-conscious,” Gideon’s voice rang out across the team’s comms.

“Gideon bring the ship to us, now. We need to get her to the medbay,” Sara commanded.

“I’m afraid I cannot, Captain Lance. I fear giving the Agent’s current condition, any movement may cause her to bleed out,”

“Okay new plan, Gideon can you start prepping the medbay… Zari I need you to fly ahead to the ship, we’ll meet you there”

“Copy that,” Zari responded instantly, the sound of wind generating could already be heard in the background.

“Wait, I think it was just a severed wire, if I just rewire this bit here… it should… got it” Ray proclaimed looking to his captain for further instruction.

“Go!” 

* * *

 Once Ray and Zari reached the ship, Gideon was already prepped.

“Agent Sharpe is on the bridge” The AI announced the second the pair entered the cargo hold.

The blonde was sprawled out half conscious and blood stained, her body lay limp across the steps entering up into Sara’s office, the office also having taken a hit from the bomb blast.

“Tell Captain Lance, I’m sorry about the mess…” Ava’s voice broke, the last of her adrenaline ceasing now that she felt reassured help had arrived, falling unconscious as Ray gently picked her up to carry her to the Medbay.

“Gideon, update?” Zari calls out.

“From my visual inspection, Agent Sharpe has sustained serious injuries to her abdomen, a significant amount of blood loss and varying degrees of injuries to her right arm, shoulder and head. I’ll know more as soon as Dr. Palmer has her in place and wired up”

“Where is she?” Sara voiced, running onto the bridge. Her eyes immediately falling to the pool of blood that was found there, the sight alone enough to make her want to throw up, her heart hammered in her chest with a thought that perhaps they were too late.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you to everyone who read and commented on the first chapter. Kinda blew me away. 
> 
> Hope this one is just as enjoyable.

When Sara entered the Medbay, Zari was sat to the far side of the agent’s body, her fingers feverously tapping away at the tablet in front of her hand, no doubt collating all the information Gideon was providing her.

Ray offered his usual warm sideways smile, it was his weary eyes that couldn’t hide his concern as he acknowledged the captain’s presence.

Gideon, knowing a prompt wasn’t required, explained Ava's condition; “Captain Lance, I have placed Agent Sharpe under sedation, her body started to go into shock once she fell unconscious. She has suffered severe trauma to the upper right quadrant of her abdomen, multiple broken ribs and a bruised lung caused primarily by the blast. Consequently, there is a rupture to her spleen which resulted in the massive loss of blood, the agent also has a small fracture to her skull showing signs of a minor concussion, but currently there is no sign of blood or fluid around the brain. Her right shoulder is broken, that injury sustained from her escape attempt, as you all saw play out onscreen”

“Chances of survival?” Sara asked the AI, her tone matter of fact.

“Right now, 43%. Should I get the shock and spleen rupture under control, her chances of survival should increase rapidly, Captain,” Gideon replied,

“Thank you, Gideon” Sara acknowledged the AI’s work, her eyes scanning over the agents body unable to believe just how bad things could have been. “Can you give me a moment,” Sara asked her team, the rest of the group having gathered around the doorway watching on anxiously while awaiting an update. Ava Sharpe may not have been a member of the team, but each one of the legends had grown to respect her immensely, especially ever since she offered to help with the New Valhalla anachronism, no questions asked. Everyone nodded with understanding, before leaving in silence. Zari squeezed Sara’s arm warmly, passing by her on the way out and offering the captain a kind smile of support.

Sara tentatively approached the blonde. Agent Sharpe was always so put together and in control, but right now she looked broken and fragile, her body visibly hurt and weakened. The captain's jaw clenching, the sense of helplessness wearing on her. It broke her heart a little seeing Ava there like that, throughout their time working together she had grown used to, fond of even, the blonde’s strong and dominant nature, sadly right now the agent looked anything but. “Ava Sharpe, I know how much of a stubborn asshole you can be, you can fight this. You will fight this." Sara paused for a few minutes, taking up a seat on the stool Zari had been taking notes in just minutes before.

"You gotta fight this, Sharpe. When you do, I’ll be here waiting for that pig-headed, snarky remark, that I know, is already swirling around in that concussed brain of yours, it'll be something to do with my idiotic team and I screwing up once again. Is it sad that I actually can't wait to see you go off on one, because we didn’t get to you on time? I can already hear you saying something like ' _you call yourselves a bunch of time travelling heroes and you idiots still manage to show up late'_  , your voice coming across harsh yet firm and eyes rolling back with a dramatic irritation," Sara chuckled quietly to herself, the image vivid in her mind. She could already picture the agent's flushed cheeks and that one small blue vein that appears down the middle of her forehead when she becomes angry, annoyed or frustrated, it was a look Sara had encountered more than once and grown somewhat accustomed to.

Sara stopped for a moment, sucking in a deep breath her voice much more vulnerable now, “please survive this, Ava". Forcing back tears, her hand tentative, fell to lay atop the agent's, "after losing, Stein, I can’t lose anyone else".

She stayed there for awhile longer like that, unmoving and silent.

Sighing sadly, she moved away knowing her team would be waiting for her, seeking an update. Turning to walk out the door, she looked back at agent once more, "I can’t lose you,” her voice trickling on a whisper. 

* * *

Sara walked onto the bridge, having taken a few minutes for herself to gather her thoughts and take a moment to just breath, it gave her just enough time to shower and change back into her normal clothes too. The team, as usual, were awaiting a debrief from their captain while sat chatting amongst themselves in the bridge, the mood was much heavier and tenser than they were used to, a sad reminder of the professor hanging in the back of their minds.

“Ray and Amaya, congratulations you’re both acting captain for the next few hours,” Sara spoke, her words quickly catching her colleague’s attention, causing immediate confusion.

“Why, where will you be?” Zari stood up, speaking the question on everyone’s mind.

“I just need to get off the ship for a few hours and think. Gideon can you prep the jumpship, you’re driving by the way,” she added, walking into her office grabbing one of Mick’s beers, clinking it against his bottle before throwing back a mouthful.

“Sara? You’re not going to go and do something stupid, are you?” Ray questioned, his brows knitting together as he watched her intensely.

“Do I wanna go and find Damien Darhk right now and kill that motherfucker? Yes, I do. I would love too, but no, that’s not on the agenda. However, if I happen to come across some scumbags in need of a beating, I might just have to get involved. I’m feeling up to a fight,” the captain shrugged like it was nothing, washing down her words with another sip of beer.

“Beating up assholes… sounds like fun,” Mick agreed, raising his bottle in support of the captain’s decision before finishing it's contents and quickly cracking open another.

“No. It sounds like someone is actively avoiding her feelings,” Leo whispered dryly under his breath, his arms crossing as his eyes squinted examining the blonde stood in front of them.

“I just need to clear my mind, okay? I’ll have Gideon track my location, she will alert the team if anything unusual happens,” Sara returned, the decision to take a couple hours leave coming to her while showering, she needed to get her thoughts straight and being on the ship with Agent Sharpe's life hanging in the balance was not helping, "I'll be back before you know it".

“Okay, do what you need to do. But Sara? Please, just be careful out there,” Amaya approached, pulling the captain into a hug.

“It’s just for few hours, anyway. You should all be jumping for joy considering the boss will be out of office, think of all the mischief you bunch can get up too,” she smirked, knowing her team, that wouldn't be too difficult.

“Are you joking? In your absence, Agent Sharpe will probably awake from her coma just to chastise us. She would lose her mind if ever she realised you left us ‘ _incapable idiots_ ’ on this ship alone,” Nate added, the team laughing in agreement.

“True,” Sara conceded with a smile. The mood grew solemn, as her expression grew serious, “thank you all for today. It may not have been our most successful mission but we all got home safe… and alive, and that is all that matters in the end. Agent Sharpe may be hurt right now, but I have no doubt in my mind that she will make a full recovery thanks to Gideon”.

“Here, here” Mick rasped, raising his bottle again before gulping down another mouthful, the legends quick to respond their agreement.

Sara offered a final quick wave bye before heading towards the jumpship, Amaya ran up behind to join her, “you like her”.

“What?”

“Zee said something a few days ago, and I said she was wrong, but you do. You like Agent Sharpe,” Amaya's smile grew, trying her best to decipher the captain's every expression.

“Honestly, I don’t know… she’s kind of a massive pain in the ass,” Sara half lied. Truthfully, she knew all too well that there was something there, perhaps, she did have some genuine feelings for the agent, the events of the last few hours served as confirmation of that. However, she still wasn’t ready to accept that very fact, the idea of liking someone beyond just wanting to sleep with them, absolutely terrified her, she hadn't felt that way about anyone since Nyssa, and that hadn't worked out exactly as she had hoped.

“Well let’s just say you do, I’m happy for you, Sara. You deserve a piece of happiness, too. Even if she is a... ' _massive pain in the ass',_ ” Amaya added, the words hitting the blonde harder than she was willing to express, offering only a half smile in return.

“Just let me know if her condition worsens, okay? Please?” Sara added, hitting the button to shut the door into the jumpship, offering a quick salute goodbye as she turned to take a seat.

“Who you trying to kid, Lance. You got it bad,” Amaya smirked to herself, turning around to return to the bridge.

* * *

It must have been after midnight when Sara finally did return, it was now just over twenty-four hours since the initial incident happened. “I didn’t think anyone would still be awake?” Sara spoke, her voice quiet as she entered the bridge.

“An opportunity to sit in the captain’s chair and take control of the ship for a couple of hours, I wasn’t going to turn that down. Plus, flying the Waverider is so much more fun than Mario Kart, especially now that Jax has left. Gideon has also been given me a pretty interesting breakdown of the flying systems,” Zari explained excitedly.

“No need to fret Captain Lance, I ensured all fail safes were in place before Miss Tomaz came near the control panels,” Gideon interrupted before Sara could worry for her ships well-being.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” Sara asked Ray who was sat in behind her desk, reading some old comic book.

“No, we’re looking good in the grand scheme of things,” Ray smiled, his eyes inquisitive, “so, how’s Star City looking?”

“Ray..." Sara sighed sadly, leaning against the table in the middle of the room "You got Gideon to report on my whereabouts?”

“I was worried, Sara. Although, being completely honest even If I didn’t check up on you, I would have probably guessed based on the bruises on your arms and the small cut on your forehead. Apart from Oliver, there is very few people who could get that kind of hit, in on you. It’s good to know the timeline has returned to normal,” Ray said, eyeing the bruising on the blonde's arm.

“Yeah, according to Gideon, Mallus isn’t strong enough to manipulate time for more than a couple of hours, she suspects that may be another motive for wanting to infiltrate the Time Bureau,” Sara explained, brushing her fingers through her hair. “If we’re to defeat Damien, I need to get better. I need to get stronger, I knew Olli would put up a proper fight when I went looking for one,” the blonde spoke, playing anxiously with her rings still overwhelmed with a feeling of defeat, “I got to visit Laurel’s grave when I was there, too. She might not be able to answer me, but it was good to talk aloud to her. I needed that more than anything. Laurel always had the answers, she was one who had her life together, the one who had all the plans. I miss her so much, Ray,” her voice mingled with melancholy, her stare burning holes into the floor unable to look her friend face on, afraid she wouldn't be able to hold it together.

“We will take down Darkh, Sara. We will get him, and he will get what he deserves in the end. I know it,” Sara nodded in agreement, mostly for the sake of ending the conversation, her heart always warmed by Ray’s undefeatable optimism, but being honest with herself, she could never be sure if they would ever defeat Damien Darhk once and for all.

“You guys should probably head to bed, it’s late. I can check in on Agent Sharpe. I want to go over everything that went down, I think I actually have the head space for it all now,” Ray squeezed Sara shoulder amicably as he walked passed her, Zari offering a tired wave.

“Goodnight Sara,” the pair said in unison as they left the captain to the quietness of the bridge.

* * *

 Sara walked into the Medbay, her eyes reluctant to take in the still unconscious agent lying in front of her. Sucking in a deep breath she moved forward, her eyes immediately drawn to the blood stains on the agent’s usually crisp white shirt, she hadn’t noticed the sickly stark contrast until now. The blindingly white shirt losing battle to the dark crimson blood, it sent chills down her spine. The agent’s hair remained in a messy bun that had fallen to one side, her face much paler with her cheeks lacking the warm rose-pink colour usually found there. The captain’s eyes also took in the sight of a small scar that had formed over the blonde’s right eye, a feeling of anger washing over her.

“I’m so sorry, Ava,” her voice a mere whisper, as she tentatively reached forward to place her hand on Ava’s wrist. A sense of calm washed over her the second she felt the rhythmic pace of the agent’s pulse under her fingertips. “Gideon, can you put Ava’s file onto my tablet as well as all the details you and Zari compiled on the incident, please?”

“Certainly, Captain Lance. I should have you know I have run multiple scenarios, and tested hundreds of hypothetical situations, this was one of the more positive outcomes…”

“Gideon, just put the details on my tablet If you don’t mind,” Sara replied sharply interrupting the AI, “I’m sorry for snapping, I just don’t really want to talk about it,” she added, her voice much softer this time.

“Of course, Captain. Although, I would like to inform you Miss Sharpe is now on track for a 100% recovery. I did however, have to dematerialise her spleen as it was beyond saving,” the blonde couldn’t help but laugh at that last comment, her mind already picturing the agent’s reaction when she found out that her spleen has been dematerialised by a time travelling AI from the next millenium.

Sara sat for a moment, her eyes drawn to the Agent’s suit jacket neatly folded and placed on the shelf to her right, reaching forward she allowed her hand to run over the material for a moment, it was much softer and smoother than she had ever expected it to be. She couldn’t help but recall the first time she had met the agent, smiling briefly to herself memories of teasing the blonde about her polyblend pantsuit came floating back. Sara continued sitting there, the room shrouded in silence except from the odd beep from the computer screen above the unconscious blonde, Sara found a warm and comforting ease in watching the steady rise and fall of the agent’s chest, as she remained in recovery.

“Thank you for saving her life, Gideon” Sara spoke standing up, gently brushing a few loose strands of golden blonde hair out of the agent’s face before allowing her thumb to gently trace over the scar that had caught her attention minutes before.

“Thank you for fighting,” she whispered, as she left to head back to the bridge.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

When Sara got back to the bridge, her eyes fell to the spot where Ava’s blood had once stained. It now felt strange to think back on the sheer sense of fear she felt when she saw the amount of blood, that once lay there. A deathly fear washing over her that she was about to lose another person from her life, someone she was beginning to genuinely care about. She was still processing her feelings towards the agent, she accepted there was something there but stopped herself from thinking beyond that, at least until Ava was back on her feet. Pinching at the bridge of her nose, she sighed deeply, momentarily contemplating what a simpler life could have meant for her.

The blonde poured herself a fresh glass of scotch, grabbing her tablet from her desk and taking a seat in her favourite spot. Kicking off her boots, she placed her feet up on the small coffee table next to it, as she settled in to get comfortable. Taking a well-earned sip, she logged into the device reading though the notes her colleagues had put together.

Her mind raced with different outcomes, even with Gideon’s words etched in the back of her mind, she still felt things could have gone differently, gone better. She knew in her mind that there was something she could have done, something she probably should have done.

She could have offered life for the ensured safety of Ava’s.

* * *

“Captain Lance,” Gideon voiced.

“What?! What’s wrong? Is she okay?” Sara stood up in an instant, panicked and confused. She had fallen asleep while reading over the notes, exhaustion having finally caught with her. Still dazed and adjusting to her surroundings, she turned to look at the clock on her desk, it was now 5:45am.

“Agent Sharpe no longer needs to remain under sedation, her body is trying to wake up. I thought you might want to be there when she does,” Gideon added.

“Yes, thanks for letting me know,” Sara replied, pondering for a moment if she should actually go to the Medbay or not. Being honest with herself, she was terrified that Ava wouldn't want her there, she didn't want to put the agent through further distress. She paced around the room for a little while longer, her mind racing a mile a minute, evenly matched by the pummeling heartbeat pounding in her chest. Finally, she made a decision to just go, deciding she'd deal with things as they happened instead of speculating. 

Sara took up a seat next to the agent in much the same way she had done before, only this time she was wracked with nervousness. Her mind continued working in overdrive as she remained questioning if the agent would even want her to be there, when she woke up. She froze still as soon as soon as she noticed the blonde’s eyes begin to flutter open.

“Ugh… It’s you. I honestly never thought I would be so happy to see your face,” Ava’s voice was hoarse, her eyes sluggish when they fell to look at the blonde to her right.

“Wow, I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not,” Sara laughed, pausing for a moment before continuing, “how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been kidnapped by Damien Darhk and hit by a bomb blast?” Ava spoke, wincing as she adjusted her position.

“Backhanded compliments and dry witted responses? Gideon, I think she needs to go back under, the Ava Sharpe I know, doesn’t make jokes or give any kind of compliments, backhanded or otherwise… and especially not towards me,” Sara returned, amused by agent’s upbeat nature given everything she had been through. Ava seemed to appreciated the Captain's lighthearted teasing too.

“Gideon, I’m fine. I guess a little sore, but honestly fine. What happened after the blast?” Ava’s brow furrowed with concern.

“Well, you were obviously thinking of me in your last moments, I am incredibly honoured by the way,” Sara chuckled to herself at the stupid joke, “you time jumped right onto the bridge, the steps into my office to be exact, according to Gideon it saved your life. The time portal absorbed a lot the explosion,”

“I just wanted to get out of there, I wasn’t thinking about you,” Ava blushed ever so slightly, “I just clicked on 'frequently visited’ on the time courier with the hope it would bring me somewhere safe. I guess that ended with me here, makes sense given the amount of times I've had to come and save your asses ,” Ava returned, rolling her eyes at the other woman’s continued teasing.

“I’m honestly surprised Damien Darhk didn’t take the courier from you.”

“He did, I always carry a spare”

“Of course, you do,” Sara laughed again, Ava not really understanding what was so funny this time round. “Do you feel like you can stand up?” Sara stood stretching out a hand for the agent to use for support.

“I think so, just watch my shoulder, 'kay?” Ava reached forward, her hand fitting with ease into the other woman’s awaiting palm, it felt warm under her touch, she couldn’t help but feel comforted by it. “Wait, what happened to you?” Ava questioned, noticing the small cut on Sara’s forehead and bruising along her arms. “Wait, the rest of the legends? Is everyone okay?” Her eyes flitting to the other medbay bed, releasing a relieved breath when she saw no one there.

“Everyone’s fine. You know, normally I would tease the hell out of you for actually caring about my team but giving the circumstance, I think it’s best to keep my mouth shut,” Sara replied, confirmation coming from the warning glare in the agent’s eyes.

“How long was I out? What happened with Darhk? Wait does the Bureau know what happened?”

“Okay, is your mind ever not thinking about work?” The Captain interrupted before continuing, “so here’s what’s gonna happen, you’re going to go shower, there’s a bag with some of your clothes in there too, I had to hide it under the towel rack to avoid running the risk of Mick getting his sticky fingers on it, and then you’re going to get some proper rest. You might as well take my bed, Leo has commandeered the spare room. The other room was…”

“Professor Steins',” Ava interrupted, nodding her understanding, “it’s okay, I get it. But wait, what about you? Where will you sleep? How did my stuff get here? I should probably just go, I really have to get back to the Bureau, if Director Bennett ever finds out…”

“Stop, with all the questions,” Sara interrupted the agent’s semi-meltdown. “I get you like to be in control of every little thing, but like, maybe just chill for a moment. Remember, I am the captain when you’re on my ship, and therefore you have to do as I say” Ava was a little taken aback by Sara’s ‘ _captain_ ’ speak.

“ _Your ship’,_ Captain Lance, is _technically_ property of the Time Bureau, therefore…” Ava began, her eyebrow quirked.

“Shower now!” Sara demanded, shaking her head knowing this was going to be much more challenging than she first anticipated.

“But…”

“No more questions Sharpe, move it!”

* * *

 Sara knocked on the door into her quarters, not wanting to walk in at an awkward time. Gideon had requested she bring painkillers to the recovering Agent. 

“Come in,” the voice inside reciprocated. Sara entered, spotting Ava sat on her bed, her cheeks flushed and frustration drawing lines in her forehead. “Do you know how difficult it is to get dressed with a broken shoulder?” she sighed, the sweatpants were fine for her, the top half however, was much more challenging. As a result, she was now sat there with a towel wrapped around her top half, the floor littered with every single shirt, T-shirt and hoodie that was in her bag.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sara asked, her voice genuine but not wanting to overstep. 

"Psssh no," Ava scoffed, "I got this". Wincing sharply as she tried to put on her top again, "fine! Yes, perhaps I do need some help," her voice growing timid.

"Why is you shoulder still broke anyway? Gideon should have repaired it, no?" The shorter blonde questioned, her brows knitting together with concern. 

"Ummm, it's fine. She fixed everything else... can we not talk about it, I'm still having flashbacks and they're not overly pleasant," Ava bit down on her lip, internally cringing at Sara's observation. There was a reason behind it, but Ava wasn't ready to have that conversation just yet. "Anyway, are you going to do something to help, or just question your AI's magical healing abilities?"

“Okay, just give me a minute… I’ll be right back.” Sara replied shrugging off her previous question, before remembering why she was there in the first place “Oh, also here’s a glass of water and some pain meds from Gideon,"

“Thanks” Ava acknowledged, but the captain had already disappeared out of the room.

Sara returned about five minutes later, “ so, when I was fifteen my dad was shot through the shoulder, the bullet completely obliterated his scapula. He couldn’t manage any of his shirts, so my Mom made him one that could be buttoned up from the back. It meant he didn’t have to move so much to get his arm into the sleeve. I had Gideon make something similar, albeit a little more stylish,” Sara showed off the top with the button up back.

“Thanks, but how am I supposed to do up the back... broken shoulder, remember?” Ava added, staring curiously at the blonde in front of her.

“Well, with your permission, I’m going to help you put it on and do up the back?” Sara added, shrugging her shoulders her eyes watching caustiously.

“Oh… right… yeah, okay.” Ava was failing the nervousness on her voice. She took the shirt from Sara it felt nice and soft and she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering if Sara had specifically requested that it be made that way. Slowly, she eased the fabric up over her broken shoulder without having to move it too much, before she pulled it up over her other arm.

Much to the agent’s unbeknownst, Sara unintentionally found herself mesmerised by the curve of the agent’s spine, her eyes carefully traced the subtle movements of the blonde's back muscles tensing and relaxing as she moved about, slowly easing the shirt on. It was never her intention to become so distracted, she had recognised Ava's beauty and strong stature the moment they met, but Sara always had an appreciation for the human form, she viewed every body beautiful in it's own right. She never imagined that such an overwhelming attraction would come to reckoning, while silently admiring the agent’s toned back. As a result, her fingers were not as nimble as she would have liked them to be, as she nervously closed up each button.

“Better?” Sara voiced after a beat, her words causing Ava to jump. Much like the captain's train of thought, Ava’s mind had wandered off to another plain, one where Sara’s fingers found themselves soft and tentative on her back for a completely different reason. A subtle blush fought it’s way up her neck, and Ava was incredibly grateful Sara didn’t feel the need to comment on it.

“Much. Thank you,” Ava said softly, her breath hitching as the smaller blonde gently turned her around to face her, the back of her legs hitting the edge of the Captain's bed but she remained steady. Sara grabbed the sling Gideon had put together, helping the agent to put it on. The pair purposefully avoided eye contact while doing so, given their close proximity. Finally, Sara grabbed a navy-blue zip up hoodie from the floor, careful in her movements as she placed the second sleeve around the sling. The two now face to face as she slowly zipped up the front of the jacket, the tension loaded and malleable. Their eyes fell in contact for a fleeting moment, breaths held heavy in their chest with a sense of the unknown bouncing between them.

“Never thought I’d see Agent Ava Sharpe dressed in sweats and a hoodie,” Sara joked, breaking any kind of tension that lingered between them. She could have kissed the other woman in that very moment and Ava would have reciprocated without a second thought, but it wouldn't have been right for them, at least not yet. This wasn't to be their moment, they both knew there was too much still unsaid between them, a kiss could have been nice just then, but they both wanted so much than 'nice'.

“Yeah, you do know I’m not always in a suit, right?” Ava challenged to which Sara just rolled her eyes. “Are you sure about me sleeping here, you look tired too, I don’t want to throw you out of your own bed?”

“Seriously, it’s fine, I promise. Take the meds get some sleep, Agent Sharpe,” Sara spoke, Ava knew they was no point in arguing any further, the woman was just as stubborn as she was.

“Sara?” Ava questioned, the captain having not yet gotten used to hearing the other blonde saying her name in such a soft tone, turned to look back at her. “Thank you for everything”.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the continued support. I had weird feelings about this chapter, but we got through in the end. 
> 
> Ava is finally back in the land of the living, yay!   
> How about a little tidbit for the next chapter? We will get to see Ava interacting with the other legends... it's interesting. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, the kudos and comments. Seriously, thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted to post this yesterday, but I accidentally did a stupid thing. After making edits and slight additions I forgot to save, so I had to redo it today, but it's here now so it's all good. 
> 
> Also I noticed the chapter were messed up for a moment, 'Chapter 3' was initially labelled as 'Chapter 4', but it is all fixed now.
> 
> Thanks again for the continued support.

Ava awoke her mind slightly foggy from the pain meds but she quickly shook it off.  Sitting up in the bed she turned to look at the small clock on Sara’s bedside table it was just after noon. She lay there for a moment taking in the room around her, a photo of the Lance family sat beside the clock, similar to one she had previously noticed in Sara’s office. A photo that Sara had quickly snapped from her grasp without a second thought, it was understandable that Sara would be protective over them given everything the Lance family had been through.

A framed knife display hung on the far wall with an old record player beneath, next to it stood a book shelf packed full of books, Ava wouldn’t have picked Sara to be much of a reader, then again the blonde was full of surprises. Curiosity, eventually got the best of her as she stood up to take a closer look. The collection of books ranged from ancient fighting techniques to modern day history, with the odd work of fiction thrown in too. Some books more worn than others, allowing Ava to spot some of the Captain’s favourites.

Continuing her exploration, she noticed a couple of weights on the floor next to a yoga mat, a dart board hung next to Sara's closet, the black and red board decorated with a handful of beautifully crafted throwing knives. Aside from the few little bits that piqued Ava's interest, the room remained quite minimalistic and clean, a pile of clothes were  thrown messily over the back of chair and a half dead plant sat on her desk, apart from that everything had a place. Her eyes drawn to a small jewellery stand in front of the vanity mirror, Ava guessing that was where Sara kept her many rings when she wasn’t wearing them.

She took a seat in front of the mirror, her eyes taking in the image of the scar over her eyebrow. Her heart picking up in pace as haunting memories of Darhk’s cold hands on her wrists, came racing back, the memory shockingly vivid. She fought against it, knowing it wouldn't be long before it dragged other memories from her past, one's she'dvery much like to forget, to the forefront of her thoughts. Pushing it all to the back of her mind, she brushed out her hair pulling it up into a messy bun before fixing herself up. it was much easier said than done, considering her right arm remained in a sling.

Finally, she decided it was time to brave the rest of the ship.

Ava suddenly felt vulnerable, a feeling she wasn’t overly use too, at least not since she joined the Bureau.  She didn’t feel comfortable leaving the safety of Sara’s quarters. It was overwhelming and slightly terrifying being unable to determine her current position on the ship, was she; a patient? a passenger? a helpless victim saved by the Legends? She felt oddly out of place no longer playing their authoritarian enemy, leaving her longing for the safety and confidence boost, her starched suit offered.

She cautiously exited, hoping if anything, she'd bump into Captain Lance before anyone else.

“Agent Sharpe! Hey, you’re awake? How are feeling?” Amaya questioned, noticing the Agent exiting Sara’s quarters.

“I’m okay, everything considered,” Ava smiled kindly, if she was to encounter someone else besides Sara, she was incredibly grateful that it was Amaya she ran into first. Amaya was the team's soft touch. Without doubt, the most open and friendly member of the group.

“Everyone’s in the galley grabbing some lunch, if you would like to join us?” Amaya offered kindly, nodding towards the kitchen.

“Sounds good,” Ava added politely, genuinely grateful for the other women’s openness.

* * *

 

“Hey everyone! Look, who’s back on her feet,” Amaya announced, as the pair entered the Galley together.

“Av…Agent Sharpe!” Nate exclaimed excitedly, standing to approach the blonde and give her a hug, her icy glare enough to keep him at bay. “You’re not a hugger? I see. Guess it makes sense why you and Sara get along so well. You two pull off the ‘r _espect personal boundaries or I’ll punch you’_ face, super well,” he rambled nervously, smiling shyly as he returned to his seat. All the while, Zari couldn’t help but laugh at the awkward encounter.

“Pull up a seat,” Amaya encouraged, as Ray approached the table with a selection of foods, three different salads and a handful of sandwiches. Leo followed behind him with a massive bowl of soup.

“Agent Hot Pants,” Mick grunted, nodding his head as she took a seat opposite him, Ava figured it was Mick’s way of saying hello.

"Mr. Rory," she returned, matter of fact.

“Bon appetite, everyone,” Ray smiled widely, taking his seat at the table proud of his creation, even though it was Gideon who had put in most of the work.

“Do you always eat together?” Ava questioned, a little mesmerised watching the team seamlessly weave around one another as they each grabbed the food they wanted, taking turns to pass out cutlery, plates and pour glasses of water for one another. It was an incredible sight to watch unfold, the team were working with and around one another like a well-rehearsed dance, it was strangely beautiful and an impressive sight to behold. That was until Ray and Nate, who were sat at the end of the table, start having a pretend sword fight over a turkey sandwich, Zari offered playful commentary, while Amaya and Leo remained oblivious chatting quietly as they finally took a seat at the table, their nonchalance signalling to Ava even this wasn’t an unusual occurrence.

“I know, it weirded me out too when I got here,” Zari spoke up, noticing the Agent’s intrigue as she took another massive bite of her food, already half way through her second sandwich.

“It’s odd. But you will get used to it,” Leo added flashing a smile. His words taking her aback, momentarily playing with the idea of lunch with the Legends becoming a thing, that happened on a regular basis.

“Sara says it’s important for us to eat together. I guess we’re all just used to it by now,” Nate explained, shrugging his shoulders, tucking into his salad.

“We all take turns putting the meals together, cleaning up. Ray even designed us a chore wheel,” Amaya interjected pointing to a colourful wheel on the far wall.

“Except for my good friend Micky over here, he likes to disappear when any of the cleaning up needs to be done. Right Micky?” Leo added, his hand slapping against Mick’s chest.

“What did I say about calling me, Micky… and I’m not your friend,” Mick warned, pushing Leo’s hand off his chest.

Ava helped herself to a bowl of soup and some bread, not feeling overly hungry. “Speaking of, where is Captain Lance?” Ava asked, she didn’t miss the playful smile shared between Zari and Amaya when she asked the question, but refused it was best to ignore it.

“She fell asleep in the library, and well, no one dared to wake the sleeping assassin,” Ray answered, with a shrug. “Why? Is everything okay, I know you think we’re idiots but maybe we can help?” Ray added, the team nodding in agreement with the exception of Mick who was still sat, staring down Leo.

“No, everything’s fine. I just wanted to make sure she was doing okay, but I can just catch up with her later,” Ava replied, feeling somewhat awkward as the Legends eyes zoned in on her, she could sense each one of them analysing her words, but refused to play into it.

“On another note, it’s not that I think you’re all idiots. It's just, we do things differently and maybe I don’t always agree with how you or your Captain’s handle things. I honestly don’t know if we’ll every see eye to eye on that, but I think it would be unfair of me to continue calling you names,” Ava paused, feeling somewhat nervous, she had never really had a proper conversation with the Legends before now. Their encounters usually resulted in a shouting match, violent threats or someone being arrested, not this, not sitting down over lunch conversing like a bunch of adults for a change, it was a little disconcerting for everyone. “Well, I guess I just wanted to say thank you for saving me. You all came to the rescue when I needed help and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain just how grateful I am to you all, for that. Just umm… Thank you,” Ava smiled, biting anxiously at the inside of her cheek unable to tell how the Legends would react to her words. Ava was stubborn, proud and probably a little egotistical at times, but in this case she couldn’t be any of those things, she knew wholehearted the Legends deserved to be thanked, and thanked genuinely.

“Agent Sharpe…” Amaya began.

“You can call me Ava, it’s not like we’re on company time right now,” Ava interrupted, half laughing.

“Okay Ava, you helped us when you really didn’t have to. You saved Sara from that weird dimension, other worldly thing. As Legends, we might not play by Bureau rules, but we always show up when someone needs our help,” Amaya responded.

“It’s true and despite the rocky start, Sara seems to really trust you and we all trust her. When we heard what happened, going to Star City, was an easy choice for everyone” Zari added with a genuine smile.

“Just don’t mess with that trust, it’s not something Sara offers up very easily,” Ray warned, Ava unsure if Ray was just talking about this specific situation or if he meant it in a much broader sense. Either way she admired the way the Legends spoke so highly of their captain.

“I know, I won’t,” Ava responded after a beat, meaning every ounce of the words she just spoke,  nodding diligently towards Ray.

“Also you’re hot, it would have been a shame to see you killed by that freak,” Mick spoke up, taking a sip of his beer, the rest of the team rolling their eyes.

Ava stood, walking around the table passing Mick on her way to the sink, “too bad I’m a lesbian,  _Micky._  Thanks for the compliment though,” she winked with a smirk, slapping him on the back playfully, the group laughing at Ava’s quick witted and playful reaction, her lightheartedness coming as somewhat of a surprise to the others.

“Hmmm? So, you’re into chicks, huh?” Mick raised an eyebrow.

“Yep,” Ava nodded, turning to face him, her arms folded as she leaned into the sink behind her. She was genuinely intrigued by where the conversation was headed. She didn’t think it would be an issue for anyone on the ship given how open and comfortable Sara and Leo were in their sexuality, and none of the legends seemed too bothered by it.

“Well then, cheers to liking chicks. Hot chicks! No wonder the boss  _trusts_ you,” Mick added, finishing off his beer. The legends unable to fight their laughter, a shy smile also appearing on Ava’s lips as her cheeks flushed, there was no hiding from the double meaning on his words, intentional or otherwise.

“Thanks for lunch, it’s been umm… interesting,” Ava spoke through a warm smile, a sense of genuine happiness hung on her words.

The Legends really did offer a comforting family kind of vibe. Heightened by the fact, that they really didn’t have to be considering their past conflicts. It was completely different to the Bureau, usually she spent her lunch alone at her desk mindlessly eating whatever mediocre salad the canteen had to offer that day, passing the time doing emails. Their canteen was most often empty, it seemed almost clinical awash with sterile white lighting, the walls were light grey and floor were covered with shiny white tiles. It stood as a vast contrast to the Waverider’s Galley which was a little cluttered and messy with knickknacks, there was plants and candles, artwork and books, it was homely and warm despite being a 31st century timeship. As well as that, no one in the Bureau really interacted outside of work conversation, no one chatted about their personal life, shared stories or joked around and perhaps it was that, that she enjoyed the most while eating lunch with the Legends. She did speak with Gary every now and then about life outside the Bureau, but even they struggled to find a common ground.

“Agent Sharpe, could you come to the Medbay please?” Gideon called out, interrupting the blonde’s stream of thought.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave, thanks again for lunch,” she added, smiling again as she left the galley to go collect her next batch of pain meds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter was somewhat self-indulgent, I wanted to write a Legends and Ava interaction. I know it's missing Sara but I wanted it that way, you gotta win over the family first, ya'know? 
> 
> If it helps it is kind of justified in a later chapter. 
> 
> On another note, the next chapter is super Sara/Ava heavy. Also, get ready for some Agent Sharpe backstory. 
> 
> Thanks again for the support.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, thank you for the continued support, comments and kudos, it means a lot. :)
> 
> Secondly, I want to preface this chapter with a warning. Ava's backstory does get a little dark, but no where beyond the level of darkness we've seen with Sara on the show. There's a brief mention of drug and alcohol abuse too, so if you find any of this uncomfortable, maybe avoid the last third of this chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy.

“You know I’m a League trained assassin, right? I can tell when someone is watching me sleep,” Sara voiced dozily, her eyes remaining shut, allowing the blush on Ava’s cheeks to go unnoticed. Truthfully, Ava had been a little entranced by the sleeping blonde when she first entered the library, she couldn’t help but admire how beautiful and soft the captain looked lying there peacefully, the blonde was curled up on the couch a wine-coloured blanket lay over her, her breathing soft flowing easily through slightly parted lips.

“I wasn’t watching… I was just checking in? It’s nice to see you managed to catch up on some sleep too,” Ava answered after a minute or so.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Sharpe,” Sara quipped in return. “Are you going to hang around the door like a creep, or are you going to step inside, it’s just a library after all”.

“I mean, I didn’t want to disturb your sleep any further,” Ava added, entering the room after Sara waved off her comment, quickly signalling she was done napping for the moment. “You missed lunch earlier, and…” her voice trailed into silence, the Agent becoming momentarily distracted as the blonde sat up to stretch out. Sara’s arm muscles flexing when she raised them above her head, rolling her neck while doing so. The white t-shirt she was wearing, rose up ever so slightly, showcasing the smallest sliver of pale flesh above her hip, Ava’s eyes easily drawn to it.

“And…” Sara turned to face her, her brows knitting together confused by the other woman’s sudden pause.

“Umm, sorry?” Ava shook her head, clearing her mind as she stared back at Sara blankly. Ava still surprised by what had just happened, she never became distracted so easily, especially not in this kind of context.

“Lunch, you were talking about lunch? Are you okay, maybe it’s the concussion. Should we get Gideon to check you over?” Sara eyed the other woman, confusion mounting.

“No, I’m fine, just lost my train of thought for a second. Anyway, yes lunch, it was a very interesting experience,” Ava continued, walking further into the room choosing to distract herself with the many files, ornaments and books that littered the room.

“Interesting, huh? That’s not too far off being a compliment. I am beginning to think, us, merry bunch of losers, are growing on you?” Sara smirked, her eyes trained in on the other woman as she made her way around the room.

“Yeah, maybe,” she shrugged, “you may well be a bunch of time breaking bandits, but I can’t deny that you got a pretty, wonderful team around you, Captain Lance”.

“You know I could get used to this,” Ava turned to look at Sara, it was her turn to be confused.  “You’re pretty cool when you don’t have a bureaucratic stick up your ass. I get it, you like rulebooks, punctuality and order… Oh, and Sears formal wear, but honestly this less intense version of Ava Sharpe, she’s pretty cool,”

“Okay wow! Come on that’s not very fair, it’s my job to be intense. The Bureau is my life, and the rules are there for a reason. Plus, it’s not like you and the Legends came in spreading love, joy and happiness, either. You, Sara Lance, tried to crash your ship into mine or have you forgotten? You can be your very own kind of stubborn asshole too,” Ava challenged.

“Fine, we got off to bad start on both ends, I’ll give you that. But, you will never ever hear me apologise for threatening you with my ship,” Sara’s smirk grew wider, causing Ava to scoff loudly rolling her eyes.

The Agent turned back around to run her fingers along the spine of the numerous books lining the shelves, scanning the titles as she did so. “You know I always did like this library, Rip has an incredibly impressive collection of records, books and artefacts. Is it sad I’m kind of jealous?”

“So, you like books, huh? Interesting. I’m not in the least bit surprised,” Sara deadpanned.

Ava shaking her head forced back the smile from her lips, eyes squinting slightly as she challenged the other woman once more, “this whole sarcastic attitude, does it ever stop?”

“Sarcasm? What’s this sarcasm thing you talk of?” Sara purposely exaggerates her jokes, enjoying winding the Agent up, perhaps, a little bit too much. “Nope, it doesn’t, better get used to it, Sharpe.”

“Whatever. Plus, I’ve come to learn of your fondness of books too, Miss Lance. It is fair to say, I was actually surprised you like to read?” Ava eyed her, taking a seat next to her on the couch mimicking the Captain’s position as she kicked her feet up on the table in front of them.

“My files must be super boring if they include me liking books in them,” Sara pondered.

“It wasn’t in your files. I just assumed given the overcrowded bookshelf in your room”

“Well, what can I say, time travelling means you have an awful lot of spare time on your hands,” Sara added, quirking an eyebrow enjoying the easy-going conversation flowing between them, “Tell me something about you?”

“What?” Ava shot her that confused look once again.

“You literally know everything about my life, thanks to Rip and The Bureau’s records. But I want to know a little more about you, Agent Sharpe,” Sara looked at her, “besides polyblend suits, governmental rules and boring paperwork, what makes Ava Sharpe tick?”

“Final reminder. Those are all work things, Sara. I promise you, I do actually have a life outside of my career. Plus, I don’t know everything about you, I don’t know any of the fun or interesting things about you, like your favourite food, or favourite colour?” Ava returned, growing a little irritated that Sara seemed to think she was solely a paper-pushing, suit.

“You think knowing my favourite colour and favourite food would be fun… and interesting?” Sara teased, noticing the other blonde grow flustered when she realised what she had said. “Come on, I’ll stop annoying you if you let me ask you some questions, you can ask me some in return too?”

“Fine! But I want you to know I think this is stupid, but you’re never going to drop it, are you?” Sara shook her head defiantly. “Okay then. Sara Lance? What is your favourite colour?”

“White. You really could’ve guessed that one,” Sara returned confidently, smiling widely.

“The White Canary, figures as much,” Ava spoke under her breath. She watched the other blonde as her playfulness seemed to dissipate to something else, something resembling sadness. “Wait, did I say something?”

“Laurel…” Sara smiled sadly, her voice low as her eyes looked up to meet those of the Agent’s.

“Hmmm?” Ava’s brows creased.

“It’s more than just the White Canary. My sister, Laurel, she came up with the name. I was overwhelmed with blood lust, and honestly just feeling a little lost. I thought I’d never feel like myself again, petrified I would never feel normal again. Then, Rip offered me the opportunity to join him on his time travelling quest to take down Vandel Savage. Laurel was the one person who always saw the good in people no matter what, she always saw the good in me. She told me it was time to be ‘a hero in the light’, and as a result the White Canary was born. I’ve been trying my best to honour that ever since. That’s why white is my favourite,” Sara's brows pulled together as she bit down on the inside of her cheek, swallowing back the lump that had formed in her throat.

“I’m sorry about what happened to her, Sara,” Ava offered warmly. Sara nodded an appreciation before shaking her head, she hadn’t anticipated the conversation to go so dark or become so heavy, so quickly. But, she felt comfortable with the Agent, perhaps the most open and at ease she has felt in a really long time. It felt nice to share fond memories of her sister with someone who didn’t know her personally, it felt like she was sharing a legacy that deserved to live on.

“So, from when did Rip recruit you?” Sara spoke after a beat, figuring there was no point dwelling in a melancholic nostalgia, especially not when she wanted to learn more about Ava.

“2017, I am one of the few agents he picked from the present day, or what was the present day when he decided to leave the Waverider and set up the Time Bureau. Rip needed a handful of people to help him set up The Bureau. Just like when you were recruited to join the Legends, we all had to be unimportant to our respected timelines. I guess I happened to fit that category, as did Director Bennett, along with three other agents. Actually, fun fact most of the other Time Bureau Agents are from the future, Gary’s from 2032,” Ava replied with ease.

“If you were there from the start why aren’t you a director. Let me guess, typical power-hungry establishment only promoting men to the most powerful positions. I can’t believe Rip would promote Bennett before you,” Sara rolled her eyes, growing annoyed.

“Long complicated story, Sara. I promise, it has nothing to do with gender politics in the workplace. Plus, I like being an Agent,” Ava returned amused by the Captain’s fiery mini-rant. “Anyway, it’s my turn to ask. Do you regret joining the Legends?” The Agent treaded cautiously, but Sara didn’t seem overly bothered by the question.

“No, never,” Sara answered immediately before rethinking her response, “but if you had asked me this a couple of months ago, you probably would have got a very different answer. Joining the Legends, has possibly been, one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life and I honestly can’t say that about many things. You know, after seeing you so beaten up in the Medbay, I had a very brief moment where I contemplated what my life would be like if I never joined, I’d probably still have Laurel, time might not be so screwed up, people wouldn’t get hurt or end up dead. Yet, that could all be mere speculation, one of the best lessons that Rip has taught me was that, no matter what, time wants to happen and there’s little we can do to change that. Plus, it brought me into a new family, I get to captain a pretty brilliant team of amazing people who have my back no matter what. I have learned so much about myself these past few months, it’s something I’ll be forever grateful for. Honestly, being on this ship has completely turned my life around, and for the better” Sara beamed, a sense of pride hanging on her every word. Ava entranced by the blonde’s words, she was slowly learning why Sara was so strong-minded and stubborn when it came to her ship and the Legends, her passion for what she did almost tangible.

“So, from where exactly? Where did Rip recruit you from?” her smile growing wider when she noticed what looked like a glimpse of amazement on the Agent’s features. Unfortunately, it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared once Sara finished asking her question.

“Star City, I was...” Ava paused to clear her throat, “Ummm, that’s also kind of complicated, but I was in the Military before then. It’s partly why he recruited me,” she kept her answer short and simple.  

“So, you’re a former lady in uniform, interesting. I can get behind that,” Sara scanned her eyes over the Agent, her trademark smirk appearing, “tell me more?”

“Nope, it’s my turn to ask,” Ava warned, a playful glint restored in her eye. “That scratch on the back of your hand, where’d it come from?” Sara, for a change, was a little taken aback by the question.

“Oh that? It’s nothing, I hurt it when I was training in gym,” the Captain quick to move her hand from sight, knowing what she answered was far from truthful.

“Sara Lance, you are an awful liar!” Ava teased.

“Fine, your cat hates me… I remember you mentioned you had a cat. I was trying to be nice and give it some food since you were pretty occupied fighting for your life, and next think I know I’m being attacked by a tiny, vicious ginger creature,” Sara gave up the game. 

“I knew Oscar would put up a good fight. Also, should I be looking into prosecuting you, you basically broke into my apartment. How do you know where I live?” Ava eyed her suspiciously, but her tone remained light-hearted.

“Oscar, really? Let me guess after Oscar Wilde or some poetic crap like that?”

“Nope, Oscar the grouch. My cat is possibly the worst cat in all of our universe, possibly even all the universes. He loves playing in the trash too, ever since he was a kitten. Ironically that’s where I found him, a tiny kitten dumped in a skip beside my apartment block, so it made sense to name him Oscar. I’m actually surprised you two didn’t bond, he has this self-righteous attitude where he’ll grumpily prowl around and act like he owns the place and doesn’t have to answer to anyone. He acts real tough, but he secretly loves to cuddle, especially in the morning,” Ava added, her smile growing, although the memory did make her miss her cat.

“What makes you think I secretly love to cuddle, Agent Sharpe?” Sara quirked an eyebrow, Ava’s face reddening.

“I… nope, we’re not going there. You purposely enjoy skewing my words, don’t you?” the Agent stared her down, Sara nodding proudly, no shame on her features.

“You enjoy it too, don’t lie!”

“Nope, and once again we’re not going there. On another note, that was an incredibly nice thing to do for me, so thank you. But seriously, how did you know where I live?” Ava quickly changed the topic, reaching for something that would allow them to move on.

“Gideon, our all-knowing time travelling AI from the next millennium, I guess you could say she knows some stuff,” Sara laughed at the lame attempt, Ava just rolled her eyes, “So, tell me about your time in the Military, I’m guessing that’s where you learned to fight?”

“That’s more than one question, Sara. See, you can’t even stay within the parameters you set for yourself,” Ava laughed to herself this time.

“Okay come on, give me this. You have years of knowledge on me and now you know my favourite colour, and that despite my reputation I occasionally do nice things for people, because I’m not as cold-hearted as first appearances, might lead some people to believe. I want to know what makes Ava Sharpe, Ava Sharpe. You know how I’ve come to be, come on give me something?” Sara sat back, her head leaning into the back of the couch as she turned to look at the Agent beside her.

“Fine, I grew up in the Military. I was one of those Army Brats… you know that kid that shows up in your class for a year or two before disappearing to other side of the country or globe for that matter, because their parents get redeployed. We moved around a lot, at least I had my brother, one of the very few constants in my life, but someone I am incredibly grateful for,”

“You have a brother?”

“Yep, a twin brother to be exact,” Ava smiled, adjusting her position on the couch as she pulled at her shirt, revealing two dog tags. Sitting up she pulled the chains free from around her neck so she could show the other blonde.

“William P. Sharpe,” Sara read aloud, her eyes intrigued by the two tags she held in her hand. Her fingertips quick to trace over the engraved letters, she noticed the date of births too, Ava was only a year and half older than she.

“So, what did you do in the army? The details on yours are pretty sparse compared to your brothers, who is obviously a doctor” Sara questioned, Ava sat back tucking her feet under herself with a heavyhearted sigh.

“This is where things get a little…” she paused, struggling to come up with the right word.

“If it’s too much, we don’t have to go into it. It’s cool,” Sara smiled kindly, having immediately picked up on Ava’s demeanour change, the Agent growing increasingly tense all of a sudden.

“No, it’s okay. You were kind enough to open up to me, it’s just been awhile since I thought about my past and shared it with someone else. So, I have always wanted to be an army doctor. I grew up witnessing multiple soldiers come back home badly hurt, or worse dead, their families devastated and ripped apart in an instant. I just wanted to help those kinds of people, you know, being right there in the middle of all the action doing everything you can just to keep a family intact, trying your absolute best to save a life. Ever since, Will and I turned five or six we used to talk about how we wanted to open our own hospital tent and work together saving all the soldiers brought in, innocent victims too. But things changed, when I had just turned eighteen, myself and Will were half way through our first year of training, we were lucky enough to get deployed to the same base as our parents. One day, two soldiers came back badly hurt, we were supposed to be honouring a ceasefire at the time, but there was a sniper attack, it turned out to be fatal in both cases,” Sara watched on quietly, as Ava spoke her voice tendered on a quiver, but she fought back her emotions.

“Both of my parents were killed that day, ripped away from me and my brother in the blink of an eye. It was up until that point, I fully believed my dad had a relatively normal role in the army, he always told Will and I he was first lieutenant, my Mom the same. Turns out it was all lies, they were under cover special operative agents, and that was what got them killed, a mission gone wrong,” her words entwined with a bitter spitefulness, as she refused to look at Sara, instead burning her stare into the ground.

“Ava, I’m sorry,” Sara’s eyes wide with concern, as they searched over her stature. Watching on she saw a slight quiver to the Agent’s lip, Sara noticing the other woman’s jaw clenching before she spoke again.

“I think it affected me so much more than Will. I became callous, darkened and mean. I was angry at everyone; the shooter, my parents for dying, my brother for being able to cope with our loss. I was a reckless, disillusioned and lost eighteen-year-old, and instead of still wanting to help those who got hurt, I wanted to hurt those who were responsible for causing all of this anguish, for causing all of this pain. So, over the next five years I trained hard and became an expert in hand to hand combat, I studied every piece of military equipment meticulously, and finally became a qualified special operative’s agent, just like my parents had done. Over the following two years I became a different person, it was if I lost all my humanity, I would stop at nothing to find the sniper who killed my parents. It didn’t matter who stood in my way. I did eventually find out what happened, turns out it was all an inside job, my parents came across some intel they shouldn’t have, and it caught up to them. I think that’s what hurts the most, especially because I had put in so many years, so much of my life into an establishment, one I genuinely believed to be good, to find out what had happened was caused and set-up by that very same institution,” tears reddened her eyes, a mixture of anger, sadness and devastation. Sara knew what that felt and looked like, all too well.

“Ava…” Sara tried comforting her, but the blonde shushed her words before continuing.

 _“_ I believe you may be familiar with Floyd Lawton? Perhaps, Deadshot? As he’s more commonly known. He was hired to killed them,” his name like venom on her tongue. “After I figured it all out, I lost all sense of myself, I turned my back on my own brother and moved back to Star City, but quickly got involved with the wrong crowd. I drank to forget, physical fought with whoever was willing just to feel something, I was abusing my medication doses just to cope with the nightmares, the PTSD. My relationship of four years to the woman I saw myself one day marrying, completely fell apart… I became so angry, cold and lost in it all. It was an unending spiral of darkness. I got beat up pretty bad one night, as I mentioned I chose the wrong people to be friends with, I was basically left in an alleyway to die. That’s where Rip found me, he saved my life by recruiting me for the Time Bureau. He gave me hope when I had lost it all. And now you know, polyblend suits and rulebooks are like unicorns and rainbows in comparison to what actually makes Ava Sharpe, Ava Sharpe,”

“Hey, Ava look at me,” Sara turned to face the Agent properly, her hand reaching forward to wipe at a tear that had slipped down her cheek. “We are not defined by our past,”

“Sara, you don’t have to do this…” Ava tried to combat Sara’s understanding words.

“No, I do, because I know what it’s like to have a haunted past. You’re a good person, you have chosen to be a good person and that’s all the matters, now,” Sara spoke, her thumb gently rubbing over the other woman’s cheek, offering comfort.

“When Rip found me, I was half-conscious at the time, but I still remember him speaking of a woman he admired greatly, a really good friend of his. A woman who refused to let her past define her, despite all the odds being against her. It was only that one time he ever mentioned that specific story, and he never mentioned any names, but it was enough to make me want to do something worthy again,” Ava added, leaning into Sara’s palm on her cheek. “Rip must really have a thing for saving problematic blondes,” Ava laughed through her tears, Sara laughed too.

“So that’s why Gideon didn’t finish fixing you up, the PTSD?” Sara offered her thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess getting captured by Darhk brought some of those memories back. Once she had done everything that required urgent action and my body was healed enough to be awoken, that’s what she did. I was becoming increasingly stressed as the memories of my past came rushing back, she hid it from the computer results, but my blood pressure was continually rising, ultimately, it was safer just to have me wake up,” Ava replied, her tears finally stopping. Speaking so openly and free with Sara was like having a tonne weight lifted from her chest.

Ava reached out to grab a hold of the hand that Sara had placed on her cheek to comfort her, she look down at, noticing those minimal scratches once more, a watery smile growing on her lips, “thank you for not judging me”.

“Never,” Sara responded, her tone definite.

“Captain Lance?” Gideon’s interrupted, her tone quieter than usual, she most likely picked up on the sincerity of the conversation they were having. Sara stood, panic setting in that something may be wrong, staring apprehensively at the screen on the wall opposite them, Gideon appeared.

“Yes, Gideon?”

“I’m sorry for disrupting, Captain, but Director Bennett is on the transmission call, he wants to speak with you and Agent Sharpe immediately. Nate and Amaya are currently passing conversation with him in your office,” Gideon explained.

“We’ll be there in five,” Sara replied.

“I knew he’d eventually find out. He’s going to fire me,” Ava stood, her tone matter of fact. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading. 
> 
> I'm not going to lie, I was a little apprehensive posting this chapter because of Ava's backstory. I don't know why exactly, I just feel like Agent Sharpe has been through some stuff, and come out better and stronger for it. Either way, I hope I did her story justice. 
> 
> All comments, views and criticism (constructive) welcomed. 
> 
> Next chapter: time for some present day angst...


	6. Chapter 6

“Director Bennett, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you call and personally ask for me? I feel incredibly honoured,” Sara strode in passed the team, her trademark smirk licked to her lips matching the sarcastic twitch to her tone. Ava may have been emotionally vulnerable with Sara just moments before, but she walked into the bridge showing nothing less than pure confidence and resilience. She knew that’s what she needed to be in that moment, and as a result not one of the Legends or the Director were capable of telling the Agent had just bared her soul in the library minutes before.

“I wanted to thank you and the rest of the team, for going above and beyond for Agent Sharpe,” Director Bennett acknowledged, the Legends flashed smiles all round as Sara looked proudly to Ava. The stoic Agent remained unmoved, her posture perfect and strong as her eyes stayed locked ahead, staring towards her superior.

“Thank you, Director Bennett. Agent Sharpe has been a huge help to us, too” Sara smiled, eyeing the blonde to her right once more. This time with a feeling of amazement, that such a strong woman could go from being heartbreakingly vulnerable to staunchly confident in a matter of moments.

“Indeed. Moving beyond all sentimentality and gratitude, I guess you could say that is the main objective of my call. Perhaps, Agent Sharpe has been involved more than she was ever supposed to be,” his tone completely different this time. “Agent Sharpe, if you could return to the Time Bureau with immediate action. I believe we should have a sit down and review some of the contractual agreements you signed and yet continue, despite all warning, to disregard.” The tone on the Waverider quickly mellowed, Ava remained unmoved.

“Wait, what?” Sara interrupted suddenly confused, her eyes dancing between the screen and Ava.

“Sara, it’s fine,” The Agent turned to look at her briefly, before facing the screen once more “Yes, Director Bennett, I will return as soon as I collect up my things,” Ava added, nodding diligently.

“Hell no, you won’t! Screw your contractual agreement. Director Bennett, with all due respect I think it would be highly irresponsible for Agent Sharpe to return to Star City while Damien Darhk is still on the loose, you do remember he was ready to kill her without a second thought just two days ago. She’s so much safer here. Besides all that, all Agent Sharpe has done is help our team after we lost a hugely valuable member, a time when none of us were 100% in the right headspace. She stood in and pulled through for us when we needed the support. As a result, we’ve been successful in restoring the timeline. She also saved me...” Sara stood forward, anger flaring towards the man on the other side of the screen, fuelled by his complete dismissal of Agents Sharpe’s work.

“Miss Lance, you’re getting way over your head talking to me like that. Aside from just working with you… lot, Agent Sharpe has drawn attention to herself, she inexplicably broke Time Bureau rules and ultimately attracted the attention of Mr Darhk to our institution. The Time Bureau and all it stands for is now open to huge amounts of risk, frankly she’s getting away lightly. If it wasn’t for her high regard amongst Bureau staff, I personally, would have her locked up with Mr Rip Hunter, effective immediately,” the Director’s voice viciously callous, cold and cutting.

“So now we’re victim blaming too, Director. You and I both know it wouldn’t take a whole lot for Darhk to figure out about your organisation, stop putting that on one of your best agents!”

“Sara drop it! Just let me deal with this, please” Ava warned, afraid Sara’s words were making the whole situation worse.

“No, I won’t drop it. You’ve done nothing wrong, and he wants you locked up just because you bent a few rules. Screw that. Ultimately, both of our team’s goals are to protect and restore time to it’s rightful and accurate timeline, we were able to do that because of Agent Sharpe. You said she was highly respected within The Bureau, doesn’t that mean enough, shouldn’t you trust one of your best agent’s decisions, instead of wanting to arrest her? That’s so incredibly messed up,”

“Miss Lance…” he cut her off.

“Captain Lance!” Sara fired back, irritated.

“Captain Lance… Agent Sharpe showed complete carelessness and utter recklessness towards our quest to repair and restore time, all for the sake of a few nobodies who really don’t matter in the larger scheme of things,” his voice firm, eyes ablaze with fury.

“Screw you Director! My team go above and beyond for the sake of restoring history and retaining timelines, fuck you for belittling that. They push their personal issues aside, have each left their love ones at home not knowing when they are going to return and every one of them put their lives on the line every single day for this quest, especially when your bunch of suits are too afraid to get involved, or frankly screw up and miss something along the way. Ava has been the only one trying to connect our two sides… never fucking talk about my team again, or at least next time be brave enough to call us a bunch of nobodies in person,” Sara hissed back.

“Sara please? Please let me handle this” Ava begged again, turning to look at the other blonde, reaching forward to grab onto her arm in the hopes of easing some of pent up anger and tension found there, but Sara quickly pulled her arm away annoyed with Ava’s cool behaviour despite Bennett’s dismissal.

“Director Bennett…” Ava began but was quickly cut off.

“I expect to see you here soon, Miss Sharpe. No more questions. Consider your work with the Legends ceased effective immediately. If you do not return to the Bureau within the hour, I will be putting out an immediate warrant for your arrest,” with those last few cutting words the transmission screen went back.

“What an absolute asshole. As if, he can just decide to disallow you to work with us,” Sara spat out on a disbelieving laugh, “I can’t believe the Time Bureau considers us the nobodies, screw him. At least we don’t imply militant rules and condescend our colleagues. Sounds like he’s more interested in controlling everything and everyone than actually saving time. The Time Bureau has really gone downhill since they decided it was a good idea to lock Rip up,” Sara’s voice remained fiery and tense, turning to look at Ava, whose eyes were now focused on the black screen ahead. “Wait, please tell you’re not actually considering going back to that dump hole?”

“Yeah, seriously nobody should have to put up with that kind of crap,” Nate added, Amaya and Ray nodding in agreement.

“You can do so much better than that toxic pit of gormless, paperpushing idiots anyway. Screw them!” Zari added.

“Let’s burn them to the ground…” Mick chanted, hi-fiving Leo to his left.

“Stop! Can you all just shut the hell up for a minute! I can’t hear myself think, the Time Bureau might mean sweet fuck all to all of you, but it still means something to me. I guess I am just another one of those ‘ _gormless paperpushing idiots’_ after all. The Time Bureau is a huge part of my life and now I may no longer be a part of it!” Ava shouted towards the other Legends, everyone was taken aback by her sudden outburst, surprised that she was still siding with the Bureau after the way Director Bennett spoke about her and the Legends. “You know I really thought we had moved past the you vs us attitude, but maybe I was wrong”.

“Woah Ava, chill,” Sara added, standing to the side. She too taken aback by the taller blonde’s sudden outburst. “They were just trying to stand up for you, you can hardly blame them after the way that bastard spoke to you, spoke to us.”

Ava turned to look at the team’s captain, a fire blazing in her eyes “And how exactly are you all defending me, Sara? By completely discrediting the Bureau? Mocking the place, I consider a second home? Tearing down the people I work with, the people I too have seen go into battle and not come out the other side?” she paused, releasing a breath of tension her body visibly shrinking as her heightened posture seemed to crumble, “You know what, forget it. For a second there I thought you, Sara, of all people would understand… I guess I was wrong,” her voice shaky and timid. The Captain was left speechless this time, after noticing not only the fragility and sense of emotional exhaustion growing on the Agent’s voice, but she could now see the tears welling up in her eyes. This time, a lot different than the tears Ava had previously shed in the library.

This time Ava was upset because of her.

The taller blonde turned to look at Sara once more, pulling herself together as best as she could, before exiting the bridge. The air she left behind heavy with tension.  

“Okay, so maybe that could have gone a little better,” Ray rubbed at the back of neck.

“Yeah Sara, you might want to talk to her before she grabs her things and walks out,” Amaya approached Sara, the Captain’s head hung low as her mind still processed everything that just happened. She knew she could have handled things better, she knew now why Ava got so angry, it all suddenly clicked into place. She was heated and worked up, and momentarily forgot about the importance of the Bureau, to the Agent.

“Sara, you mentioned Darhk earlier. You’re right about him still being out there, he won’t hesitate to kill Agent Sharpe if she returns to Star City, shouldn’t that be enough to convince her to stay,” Nate spoke up.

“From the way that conversation just went it seems like Agent Sharpe is pretty determined to get back to the Bureau no matter what, the risk of running into Darhk seems pretty irrelevant. Sadly, I can’t imagine The Time Dickwads will do much about it, if she does come into harm. Bennett, just seems overly concerned with protecting his position of power. None of us want to think about it, but if it comes down to Agent Sharpe or The Time Bureau, I’m pretty sure we all know which he’s going to choose to protect,” Zari added, her tone matter of fact everyone silently agreeing with her words.

“She needs to know she has our support if she wants it, if she leaves before something is said she’s going to feel like there’s nowhere to turn. That would lead her right into Darhk’s hands,” Amaya spoke candidly.

“Finally, an emotionally sensible response from the Legends. Who knew it was possible?” Leo stepped forward, his hands falling onto Amaya’s shoulder with a light chuckle.

“You should go, Boss. Go tell Agent Hotpants we’ll only burn down the Bureau when she wants us too,” Mick added with a nod.

Sara remained silent nodding understandingly. She knew every single thing the team brought up were hugely valuable and valid. She made a mental note to thank them all later for the boost of encouragement, in a moment she felt like giving up was perhaps the better option.

* * *

 “Ava, wait,” Sara entered her room.

“Just leave me alone, Sara. I don’t want to talk to you right now” Ava spat back, rummaging throughout the room for everything she owned, breaking a sweat as she used her good hand to throw it all into her rucksack.

“No. I know you, you don’t really want to go back there. You know it’s not safe,” Sara remained strong.

“You seemingly know a lot of things. You’re wrong. I went above and beyond for your team, and all for what in the end?” Ava stood turning to face her, a dead stare challenged the Captain’s.

Sara quickly noticed Agent’s Sharpe time courier on the bed side table grabbing it, she threw it to the ground crushing it beneath her boot without a second thought, she figured it was the best thing to do to buy herself more time.

“Really Sara?! That wasn’t fucking necessary” Ava glared at the blonde, infuriated at the Captain’s childish act.

“Why do you want to go back there? He’s going to lock you up because you went against the rules, his rules, we don’t live in the fucking 16th century Ava. You have a right to make your own decisions. The place sounds as if it has become corrupt as fuck ever since they locked Rip up. You’re so much better than that place,”

“So everyone seems to think, apparently. Tell me Sara, if we’re talking about being better than a place why would you decide to return to the League of Assassins when you got stuck in 1964?” Ava stood eyes burning into the other blonde.

“You know damn well that’s not the same!” Sara spat back.

“Is it not in a sense?” Ava mocked with a sharp biting laugh, before calming, “I will never ever compare my life in the Time Bureau to yours in the League of Assassins, Sara. I simply cannot and never will. Not with everything you had to endure there. But I am forever, emotionally connected to the Bureau for a lot of the same reasons, you’re connected to the League. Perhaps, the Bureau is on its own toxic downward spiral, I have noticed the changes. When you give someone, anyone enough power, chances are it’s going to become toxic, it’s going to ruin lives. But I have to believe there is still good there, otherwise the last five years of my life are about as worthy as the previous five when I lost everything I ever cared about, including my sense of self. You know how well that ended for me, I was left to die alone in an alleyway because of my own ill-advised decisions. Perhaps, it's selfish or maybe even just foolish but I have to go back,” Ava's jaw clenched, forcing back the emotions because if she gave into anything other than anger, she knew Sara would have won whatever this argument was a front for.

“Fine maybe you’re right. But Ava you have to know that Mallus and Darhk are going to kill you if you go back there, and I don’t think the Bureau’s going to save you from that,” Sara interrupted.

“See there you go again, making assumptions,” Ava rolled her eyes, “You don’t know the Bureau like I do. I’m sad you seem to think so little of the work I do. I get it Sara, I do, but if Mallus and Darhk are so keen on killing me, we both know there’s absolute nothing stopping them for doing that while I am here on the Waverider,”

“We can protect you here. I can protect you,” Sara shot back, her body growing tense with Ava’s unwavering obstinance to hear her out.

“I am so grateful for your team saving my life, but don’t feel sorry for me now that you know my backstory, Sara. I don’t need protecting,” her voice grew purposefully cold a part of her wanting to hurt Sara in some way, so the smaller blonde would just let her leave and forget about her, but Sara was just as stubborn as she, “I seem to remember I was the one helping you and the Legends not so long ago, I was the one who saved your life, and look where it got me,” she laughed uncaring, or at least trying her absolute best to appear heartless.

That was where Sara drew the line, “you didn’t have to help us, Ava. Nobody forced you to!” Sara shouted back, growing slightly irritated by the Agent’s sudden backlash towards her and the other Legends.

“You! You did, Sara. You, asked for my help!” The Agent spat back, turning to face Sara head on once more.

“You could have just said no!” Sara took a step forward, her face red with anger.

“No, I couldn’t” Ava faltered, a lump forming in her throat.

“Why the fuck not?” Sara challenged, still furious.

“Because I care about you, Sara. Somewhere along the way I started to actually care about you. You asked for my help, so I defied the place that literally saved my life and broke the one rule, all Time Bureau Agents are supposed to abide by, to save yours,” her voice detached yet charged with something Sara couldn’t quite put her finger on. The reality of her words only hitting her when she saw Sara’s eyes grow wide, the look enough to make her stomach drop. “Just let me leave. It’s probably for the better anyway,” she voiced on a whisper, pushing past the blonde as she made her way towards the jump ship.

Sara stood still, rendered speechless, her mind left racing. She toyed with the idea of chasing after the Agent, or commanding Gideon to put the ship on lockdown so Ava couldn’t leave, and they could try work this thing out. Both fleeting ideas, left her drawing the same conclusion. It would be the wrong thing to do, Ava was strongminded and strong-willed once she had her mind made up, it would be unfair and manipulative for Sara to restrict her from leaving the ship. As much as it hurt to watch the Blonde storm out like that, with a hopelessness hanging on her words, Sara would never take away the Agent’s freedom to do what she felt was right. 

' _I defied the place that literally saved my life and broke the one rule, all Time Bureau Agents are supposed to abide by, to save yours_ ,’ that one sentence rattled around in her brain, and Sara questioned every single word of it, considered every possible meaning. It always brought her back to one single thought.

Had Ava somehow manipulated the timeline when she saved her from Mallus?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading and sticking around, it means a whole lot. 
> 
> All comments, thoughts and opinions are welcomed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Praise Beebo, it's Legends Day! 
> 
> Unfortunately, I have to wait until Tuesday to watch. Thanks Timezones, but it meant I had time to work on this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for all of the continued support.

 “Sara, you’re not actually going to let her leave like that?” Zari challenged the blonde when she re-entered the bridge, genuinely surprised by the Captain’s sheer lack of resilience.

“Yeah, I thought we were the one’s who didn’t give up on people,” Ray chimed in.

“I’m sorry but she has made up her mind, I’m not going to force her to stay on the Waverider. If she wants to risk her life going back to Star City, that’s on her, we can’t keep dragging her into doing things our way. We’ve already jeopardised her position at the Time Bureau,” Sara sighed sadly, surprised by how defeated she felt with her lacking ability to properly process everything that just happened. She was overwhelmed with frustration knowing she couldn’t convince the Agent to stay, the thought of possibly seeing the Agent get hurt again petrified her, but they was no way she could make Ava do something she didn’t want to.

“No, why are you acting like this. The Sara Lance we know doesn’t give up so easily. So, stop trying to convince yourself that this decision to let Agent Sharpe walk out, is the right one, because even you know it’s not,” Amaya very rarely got annoyed, but seeing her captain, her friend acting like this was very disheartening, it just wasn’t something Sara would do.

“What? What, Amaya? What am I supposed to do, force her to stay here against her will for our own selfish reasons, just because I don’t want to see her get hurt again,” Sara shot back at the other woman.

“No, you convince her to stay because it’s the right thing to do. What is your gut telling you, Sara? Your ability to lead this team and take charge of any situation is the biggest reason for so many of the successes we’ve had. Follow your intuition and instinct, not the voice echoing in the back of your mind willing you to give up,” Amaya added sternly, her eyes boring holes into Sara’s.

Amaya’s words were powerful, and she was right, every nerve in Sara’s body was telling her she should fight even if it meant going against the Agent’s wishes to return to Star City, even if it meant risking Ava hating her, further. Sara was willing to risk it for the other woman’s safety, knowing that was exactly what Ava had put on the line for her,  but it didn’t stop her from questioning that willingness. “You right, you’re all right. I think Agent Sharpe is making a huge mistake going back there, she’s walking into a death trap. But The Time Bureau means so much to her, the work she does there, means so much to her. I dunno if I can be the person to take that away,” Sara sighed, frustrated by her lack of answers.

“Come on there must be something we can do?” Ray interjected

“I agree with Haircut. I was getting used to having Agent Blondie around,” Mick added.

“I dunno? I don’t know what the right thing to do is. Afterall, I’m the reason she’s in this mess in the first place, I was the one who asked her to help us. Maybe it’s best if I just stay out of it, I know I don’t want to lose another person…” her brows furrowed it wasn’t like her to show emotion in front of anyone, instead, stopping herself from speaking any further.

“We know, Sara.” Amaya interrupted, “honestly, none of us want to lose another friend and especially not to Darhk. Just try and convince her one more time, Sara. If it doesn’t work, well I guess we’re suiting up to fight again,” Amaya stepped forward, the rest of the team rallying behind her to wordlessly show their support too.

“Fine…” Sara gave in, the Legends acknowledged her answer deciding it was probably best to leave the bridge while Sara made the call to the Jumpship.

“Gideon, put me through to the Jumpship please.” The transmission connected, Gideon even confirmed it for the Captain. “Ava?”

No answer came in return, but Gideon reassured Sara, the Agent could hear her loud and clear.

“Ava, please just hear me out okay? First off, you’re right perhaps we did, or at least I did, drag you into all of this mess, that’s on me.  But listen, I do not for one second regret the fact that you went above and beyond to help the team and me when we needed your help. When I needed your help. I needed someone I could trust, someone I knew the team would trust, someone strong and willing to do what was right when we were all still struggling after the loss of Martin, that was all you. Perhaps it was selfish of me to ask that of you, but I knew I could count on you. You pulled through for me. For us. I am so sorry you are still dealing with the consequences of that decision to step beyond your role as a Time Bureau Agent,” she paused, pacing around her office willing the Agent to respond or crack some dry remark about her going soft but the other line remained silent.

“Secondly,” she released a heavy held breath, emotion catching up on her “God, Ava you are so fucking smart, brave and strong, but Damien Darhk will not relent in his hunt to kill you, he does not give second chances and I can guarantee you, if he catches up to you again you won’t make it out alive. You’re so annoyingly stubborn sometimes, you know that? Even this whole silent treatment thing is driving me absolutely insane, you’re the one person who makes me realise how annoying I must be at times, because I know I can be just as pig-headed too. I know you have this idea in your head of making things right, I don’t want to deflect from that, but as strong and intelligent as you are you’re not going to be able to stop Darhk, this time,” she took a breath leaning against her desk staring at the blank screen. “If you really want to do this, the other Legends and I, we’re going in for the kill with you. You’ve somehow charmed them along the way too, they are willing to fight for you, Ava. I know, probably know too well, that you don’t want our help, but I’m not letting this story end in tragedy. Damien Darhk will have to take my life before he’s takes another life of someone on my team. I was so scared when I saw you on the screen that day in Star City, I never want to feel that again,” still no reply came, much to Sara's disdain, leaving her to question the connection once more. “Gideon?”

“Agent Sharpe can hear you, Captain Lance. I unfortunately cannot make her respond,” Gideon replied. Sara paced some more, chewing nervously at the inside of her cheek, she was really hoping this would work, she really thought she could convince the other woman it was better for her to stay with them, but nothing she said seemed to be working.

“You know if we ever do talk again after this, just know I’m never letting you live this down, Sharpe. We’ll figure out this Time Bureau thing, I’ll make it a personal mission if I have to. Right now, I wholeheartedly believe you’re better off with us on The Waverider which leads me to my third and final point. Somewhere along this weird journey, I guess I developed feelings for you too and maybe that was the ultimate reason why I sought out your help, I knew I could count on you and a part of me hopes you think the same of me.  Just please whatever you do decide to do, know I will stand by it, but please promise me you’ll be safe? I don’t want to lose you too.” No answered returned once again, Sara’s sighed her posture collapsing with devastation.

“I can’t make that promise, Sara” A voice made the captain jump, turning quickly on her heels to follow where the voice had come from. Ava was stood there, her face soft and full of emotion but no tears. “I promise I’ll try?” she shrugged through a watery smile.

“You came back. Again.” Sara spoke her voice a whisper, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Gideon decided to take the long way to Star City on possibly the slowest engine setting, given me some time to think. So it took some pride swallowing but I asked her to bring me back to the Waverider,” Ava approached Sara, nervously biting at the inside of her lip. “You’re right, if I return to Star City, I’m a sitting duck. So, I came back here. I was just making my way onto the bridge to talk with you, when I heard you talking”

“So, our whole argument earlier was completely pointless? The conversation I just had over to the empty jumpship wasn’t necessary?” Sara’s brow furrowed, she folded her arms sitting against the edge of her desk as she stared at the other woman.

“No, it’s just means we have a lot to talk about, plus your little speech was incredibly moving and humbling. Enough to convince  me of the idea that I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life, by returning here,” Ava laughed shyly, approaching Sara who was sat on the edge of her desk.

“Okay. So, do you want to talk about it now?” Sara questioned on a whisper. The pair were now stood impossibly close, her eyes flicking between the Agent’s azure eyes to her lips, forcing back an anticipatory gasp.

“Nope,” Ava shook her head, reaching her hand forward to tentatively brush a strand of Sara’s hair from her face. Her tongue subconsciously wetting her lips, as she leaned forward slowly. Her face just inches away from Sara’s, so impossibly close she could feel the other woman's breath, warm against her skin. Sara’s hands grasped at the edge of the zip-up hoodie the Agent was still wearing, pulling her even closer. Their eyes meeting for a flicker of a second, before Ava leaned down joining their lips into a soft kiss. It was timid and shy, lips moving chastely over the others. Ava pulled back, mainly for her own sake afraid of losing control. Sara shook her head, her eyes remained lazily shut closed, pulling the other woman back into her, needing more. Her hands definite in their actions, capturing the edge of her jaw joining their mouths together once more. Ava was happy to fall back into the kiss. This time it was deeper, any shyness between them now long forgotten. Sara sucked at Ava's bottom lip, as her teeth subtly nipped on the soft flesh she had captured, enough to earn her a breathless gasp from the Agent’s throat. She could sense a growing smile as Ava’s tongue momentarily teased her. The kiss continued growing in intensity, Sara deciding it was best to ease things off while they still could and so she was the one who pulled away this time.

Their cheeks flushed when they finally did break apart.

“We should slow down,” Sara added softly, gently fixing a strand of hair behind the Agent's ear. Ava meant something to her, and she wanted to do this right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. 
> 
> All thoughts, opinions and comments are welcome.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How lucky are we to have a show like Legends of Tomorrow in our life. I love these characters way too much. 
> 
> Monday night though, what a fun way to start second half of the season. Here's to tomorrow being just as brilliant.
> 
> Thanks for the continued support, too.

Ava took a reluctant step backwards, a bashful smile licked to her reddened lips and a subtle warm blush remained tinting the apples of her cheeks. “You’re right. Slowing down is probable for the best,” she acknowledged, “plus, we still have so much more to discuss,” she added turning to stand beside the smaller blonde, the closeness still there leaving no space between them as she did so.

Sara nodded in agreement, knowing they both had yet to talk about the fallout of Ava saving her from her Mallus. “Ava, did something happen to the timeline when you pulled me from that other world dimension?” she questioned, her voice determined despite her racing heart edged on by a fear of possibly knowing what should have been. They just couldn’t keep continuing to avoid it, especially not as the two continued to grow closer. Sadly, it was a double edged sword, Sara realised that the moment she witnessed a flash of shame and guilt registering on the Agent’s features.

“Sara, it’s a really complic…”, Ava began, her words quickly cut off by Gideon.

“Sorry to interrupt you, both. But we are currently being tracked by the Time Bureau ship, I have received a message from Director Bennett demanding Agent Sharpe return to the Bureau immediately and no further action will be taken,” Gideon explained, Sara walked out onto the bridge scanning the incoming information in the central console, Ava followed close behind. 

“What do we do now?” Ava uttered, looking to Sara for answers.

“I think I have an idea that should buy us some time, do you trust me?” Sara paced around the computer, tapping wildly and scanning through the information Gideon was feeding her, via the numerous screens. Ava nodded in understanding, her lips curling up into a trusting smile, fascinated as she watched Sara flourish in full on captain mode. “Gideon, can you call the team to the bridge, please?” Sara commanded, “Ava, can you make yourself look like you’ve just got into a nasty scrap with Mick,” she added, not a second later. Ava remained silent, her eyes revealing her overwhelming sense of confusion. “It will all make sense in a minute, I promise.”

“You called, Cap?” Nate spoke bouncing on his heels excitedly, the team quickly gathered around the computer system. “Oh hey, Agent Sharpe… you’ve returned,”

“No time for pleasantries, Nate, but yes, Agent Sharpe is going to be staying with us for a little while longer. Unfortunately, as a result, we’re currently being pursued by the Bureau’s timeship”. Sara turned to face the rest of the team “Zari, I need you to hack into the ship’s computer system and hide our location, you know something along the lines of using a proxy server to conceal an IP address,” The Captain explained as best she could, given her limited hacking knowledge.

“Why can’t you just use Gideon?” Ray questioned.

“The Bureau have all of Gideon’s programme details and frankly everything they would ever need to override her systems if Gideon were to conceal or interfere with the Waverider. I’m surprised they haven’t attempted to do so yet. I mean that would have been my first move, the Waverider wouldn’t stand a chance,” Ava interjected, momentarily forgetting she wasn’t on the Bureau’s side this time round. “Right sorry, I’m still adjusting, okay? Anyway, if the concealment comes through an outside source or a hacker, aka Zari, and if she’s good enough, the Time Bureau won’t be able to track us,” Ava added, hoping this time her response was more Legend friendly

“Good enough? That’s a joke, right?” Zari scoffed loudly, eyeing the Agent sceptically, as she took a bite out of a donut. “If you need proof, go ahead get Gideon to look up my credentials, Agent Sharpe… oh no wait sorry, you can’t, because I’ve already wiped every piece of incriminating information relating to me from all of history. Records will show of my incarceration, but that was for being a practicing Muslim in 2042, nothing linking me to my hacking career,” Zari challenged.

“Fine, I apologise. You are more than good enough, Miss Tomaz. Sara’s plan is sounding pretty solid so far,” Ava added.

“Sara, huh?” Amaya smirked, nudging the Captain. Sara shooting her a warning ‘not now’ glare.

“We’re going to convince Bennett we’re holding Ava against her will,” Sara explained, "at least that way it should  make it somewhat easier to convince them to give her back her job, when this whole thing is worked out".

“You should have Gideon knock me out, make it look like one of your guys punched me or something? Then you can put me into the Brig,” Ava suggested.

“Wait, are you sure? I was just going to make it look like you put up a decent fight, not have you be unconscious. It might trigger... you know,” Sara interjected, her brows furrowed as she examined the other woman.

“Do it, anyway. Director Bennett knows me well enough to know I wouldn’t give up without a proper fight. Perhaps, I’m making a stupid and rash decision, but I trust you guys to make it look believable,” the Agent shrugged with an air of nonchalance, “I mean you guys can do that without me having to feel any pain, right?” she laughed nervously this time, her eyes scanning the room.

* * *

The plan was successful, successful in a specifically ‘ _Legends_ ’ kind of way. The Time Bureau not only had an active APB out on Agent Sharpe but it was now also extended to each of the Legends too. Unfortunately, as well as that, Ava took a knock to her shoulder when she and Sara pretended to fight each other in order to further convince the director, when he called their bluff. Agent Sharpe had lost her footing when she went to punch Sara, which the captain had dodged easily, but unfortunately, resulted in her falling shoulder first into a wall. Gideon was quick to knock her out so she wouldn’t feel the searing pain and Mick was quick to carry her off to the brig. His actions surprisingly careful, but that may have been down to Leo’s assistance. Gideon however, was under strict instruction that she was to wake the Agent up if a single bad memory entered her mind, even if Bennett was still active on the transmission.

They were successful in holding off the director, who in a fury ended the call. Zari’s hacking was working successfully, everything eventually falling into place once they had lost the Time Bureau’s ship.

Now, everyone was pretty much taking the rest of the day to relax. Sara leaving her team to go off and do their own thing for the evening, while she took up station in her office. Her mind at ease for the first time in about four days at this rate. She knew the situation they were in was far from ideal but for right now, it was refreshing to know everyone was safe. She kicked her boots up on the desk, leaning back in her office chair, allowing herself the moment to just enjoy the silence.

“Hey…” Ava spoke softly as she entered the office a few moments later, “sorry am I disturbing, I can come back later?”.

“No, no I just haven’t really had a moment to just relax and unwind in a while, the silence was nice but you’re more than welcome to sit and enjoy it too,” Sara spoke, smiling warmly gesturing towards her favourite leather seat, that found itself unoccupied for a change. “Wait, your arm? your clothes?” The Captain examined her as the Agent entered the office, quickly noticing the blonde’s arm was no longer in a sling and Ava had changed from the comfortable workout gear to a pair of blue jeans and a grey sweater.

“Yeah, after that second hit I figured it was time to have Gideon fix me up fully. Enjoying the silence, I could be into that,” she took a seat, her eyes falling to the worn notebook, pen and dirty scotch glass on the table beside it. There was something so simply satisfying in learning little tidbits of Sara’s character, the way her handwriting looked, her favourite kind of scotch and the fact that she liked to just sit in silence every now and then. So that’s what they did, they sat in silence while breathing easy, it was nice to just fall into a warm and comfortable air of nothingness in the other’s company.

They must have stayed like that for over an hour, Ava picked up one of Rips old logs from the bookshelf positioned beside her and began reading it. She smiled to herself on noticing the Captain had drifted off to sleep. Ava couldn't helped but recognize how strikingly beautiful Sara was, her body and mind finally at ease.

* * *

 “Ahh, and so she awakes,” Ava spoke up noticing the other blonde was stirring. Sara grimacing as she stretched out her neck, wincing slightly a result of the stiffness given her desk chair wasn’t the best place in the word to fall asleep.

“Shit. I’m sorry,” Sara stood up, yawning as she stretched further.

“You don’t have to be sorry, Sara. You’re allowed to rest sometimes too,” Ava added, “You might want to get that snoring under control though,”

“I don’t snore,” Sara returned defensively. Although it didn’t stop her from feeling a little embarrassed, feeling somewhat self-conscious with the idea of Ava hearing her snore, a feeling she wasn’t overly used to. “Gideon, tell me I don’t snore?”

“I believe Agent Sharpe is, how would you put it, “messing with you”, Captain Lance,” Gideon replied after a beat.

“Screw you, Sharpe, ” Sara playfully flipped her off, the Agent laughing loudly. “So…”

“Sooo…” The mood grew a little tense, both knowing where the conversation was headed.

“There’s no point in dancing around the subject forever is there?” Sara looked at Ava, her expression open holding no judgment. “How bad is this thing with the Time Bureau? I need to know if you messed with the timeline when you pulled me from that other dimension. I mean there hasn’t been any time quakes, or abhorrations but that’s not to say we won’t encounter any soon, time may still be in flux,” she grabbed onto the edge of the desk in the centre of the room, her eyes never once falling from the Agent’s.

“Honestly, Sara. I don’t know. I thought it would have an impact, but as you said we haven’t incurred any time quakes yet? I’ve tried to figure it out on my own, but none of it makes sense. Time should be showing signs of miscorrelation but it’s not, there’s nothing standing out,” Ava answered honestly, nervously chewing at the inside of her lip, her fingers intermingling together with anxiousness.

“Why would you risk it all? You told me how much the Bureau means to you, and you put all that on the line to save someone like me,” Sara returned, Ava flinching at the blonde’s self-deprecating tone, but quickly decided it was probably for the best not to go on a rant about all the reasons why she would always risk it, and especially to save someone like her.

“I don’t know, Sara. In every situation I’ve ever been in, the good and the bad I’ve always had the answers, but I can’t explain this one. Can you remember the day we arrested Rip?  A few days later he was sentenced to jail for conspiracy, but as he was being escorted out of the courtroom, he started shouting at me specifically, he was ranting all about Mallus, that I needed to believe him and try and think back to ‘ _that time’_ in my first year of recruitment. That it would all finally make sense to me now,” Ava explained, no longer able to stay seated as she stood walking back and forth across the room. “With that, I started doing my own research at home outside of the Bureau. There was so little to go off but I found some things relating to Mallus, but it was never good and never concrete enough to base a solid theory off,” Ava responded.

“Did you remember ‘ _that time’,_ that Rip was referring to _?”_ Sara questioned.

“Do you remember asking me, why if I was a member of the Time Bureau from the beginning, why wasn’t I a director too,”

“Yeah, you said it was complicated but also because you like being an Agent,”

“I do, but for my first year at the bureau I didn’t really take the work seriously. I’d show up late, make excuses to avoid going in at all and hand in all of my reports with barely any work put into them. I mean, I was still overly jaded by everything that happened when I was in the military, and so I was doing everything in my power to stop myself from thinking about that time of my life, sleeping around, staying out late drinking, or just spending it locked up in my apartment. While everyone else was getting promoted I was still just an Admin Assistant. Ultimately, I was only holding onto my job because Rip continued fighting for me to stay,” Ava answered, her tone ashamed.

“Wow, jaded Ava Sharpe sounds like she would be just up my street. When was that? I might have to pay her a visit,” Sara smirked, unable to hold back from making a lighthearted joke at the Agent’s expense.

“Really, Sara. That’s what you took for all that?” Ava rolled her eyes, laughing. “Please you wouldn’t stand a chance, Lance.”

“Okay, rude!” Sara mocked hurt, before the pair settled once again. “I’m sorry, this is serious. All teasing aside, we still need to figure this out.”

“One day Rip asked me to stay late one evening, if anyone but Director Hunter had asked me to work overtime I would have laughed in their face, but he was one of the few people I had grown to genuinely trust. He called me into the office and next thing I know we were timejumping to the future, we stayed hidden but he showed me something, something that would happen to you,” Ava swallowed back, standing to face Sara now.

“Ava… I was supposed to die in that weird paradoxical dimension Mallus created, wasn’t I?” Ava unable to hold Sara’s stare this time. Her heart dropping on hearing Sara question it out loud.

“No,” Ava shook her head “Not exactly, you were supposed to become the next vessel for him.”

“So that’s why Darhk went after you. That’s why he wanted to kill you, he doesn’t want the Time Bureau, he wants you dead because you saved me from them. You stopped them from fulfilling whatever fallacy thay had planned,” Sara eyes went wide, with every passing second more and more things clicked into place, she looked up to find Ava’s stare anywhere but on her. “Why would you risk everything to stop Mallus from possessing me?”

“If Mallus was to possess you, Sara, you would have been better off dead. He is nothing but pure evil. Just like a toxic parasite, he sucks all the good from his hosts,” Sara didn’t really know why, but Ava’s words in this instance angered her, infuriated her in a sense. Frustrated with Ava for risking everything when it wasn’t even death they were fighting, she could have fought Mallus off and Ava wouldn’t have had to jeopardise her position at the Bureau.

“You didn’t have to interfere with the timeline for that? I beat the Lazarus Pit, I beat the blood lust, I survived the League, I could have beaten Mallus’ possession too,” Sara took a step backwards, her brows creasing defensively, annoyed by the thought that Ava didn’t believe she would be strong enough to beat this demon too.

“No,” Ava shook her head, her stance falling as she released a devastated sigh, “there was no fighting this time, Sara. Even if you did break free from his control, you wouldn’t have been able to live with yourself, not with what I saw him make you do,” her words trembled, slamming her eyes shut as memories of that day came racing back into memory, bringing hot tears to her eyes.

“Ava, what did I do? What did Mallus make me do?” Sara hands reaching for Ava’s, the blonde suddenly desperate for more answers, but the Agent simply shook her head in defeat, unwilling to share the details with the other woman, afraid of what Sara would do if she knew what Mallus was capable of doing or making her do.

“What I saw that day, Sara. It wasn’t you. Mallus took everything from you,” Ava’s voice significantly lower now, “He used all those things you’ve overcome in life against you”

“The league, dying, the bloodlust... Laurel?” Sara questioned, her heart pounding viciously in her ears.

Ava nodded silently, “I just knew I had to save you from that”.

Ava’s face was awash with vulnerability, Sara’s mind left reeling. She sensed the raw fear on the Agent’s words when she explained Mallus took everything. Ava was strong but Sara could tell she was just barely holding it together now, as she tightened the grasp on her hand. Perhaps it was too intimate, but Sara just grabbed onto her, hugging her like she was the one responsible for keeping Ava intact. Or perhaps, she just desperately needed to be held in that moment too.

Ava was incredibly grateful for the contact, the warmth and knowing despite everything, Sara was still on her side.  

They broke apart after a few minutes but the pair remained in silence. Words didn’t have to be uttered just yet.

“I’m not going to fall apart if you question it,” Ava spoke softly, her voice catching Sara off guard causing her to jump slightly.

“How do we know if the timeline was screwed up as result?” Sara replied after a minute.

“I’ve tried to figure it out myself, but I’ve come up with nothing. I’ve been too afraid to ask Gideon, the idea of having manipulated time to save one person, even though that one person happens to be you, terrifies me. A part of me knows it’s reckless and irresponsible, but I know I’d never change that decision, ever” Ava answered honestly, her voice still threading the lines of vulnerability. A small innocent smile appeared on Sara’s lips, there was something so strangely beautiful in the way Ava spoke so definitely, yet a that same time it was so heartbreakingly clear the woman's thoughts were hindered with the fear of knowing her truth.

“Time wants to happen, Ava. What’s meant to be, will eventually be. You know that as well and I do,” Sara interjected, “unless you’re a bunch of time travelling _idiots_ who manage to completely break it,” she joked this time, figuring the heavy mood deserved an injection of humour. She watched the corners of the taller women lips curl into an appreciative smile.

“You’re right. At least I’ll never be responsible for that whole mess, that's remain on you. Although I’m sure every single one of my colleagues will be baffled on hearing I’ve risk everything to save the very woman who broke time without a second thought,” Ava’s smile grew to laughter, grateful for the lightened moment. “Thank you,” she added after a beat, her expression more serious as she looked to Sara. The Captain understanding the platitude immediately.

“Do you think you’re ready to ask Gideon?” Sara approached her once again, taking up a position beside her. She gently offer an encouraging nudge to the taller woman's shoulder as she did so. Ava nodded, followed by a watery smile.

“Gideon, can you detect any outliers to the timeline ever since I pulled Sara out of Mallus’ dimension?” Ava swallowed, her heart pummelling in her chest cavity she was sure Sara could hear it too.

“I have run multiple algorithms, tests and researched a multitude of sources, Agent Sharpe. I cannot detect a single anomaly, time distortion or timeline change as of right now. If something was to have happened it should have shown up by now”

“See, it doesn’t make sense,” Ava sighed, rubbing as her forehead out of pure frustration punching the desk behind her.

“Agent Sharpe, if I may propose a possible explanation?” Gideon added, her words immediately catching Sara and Ava’s attention. “I’ve come to know Captain Hunter very well over centuries of time travel together. He wouldn’t be one to easily suggest breaking the timeline for the sake of saving one person, even if that person was Captain Lance. I suspect what happened was always supposed to happen, you were always meant to save Miss Lance,”

“Then what about what Rip showed Ava four years ago,” Sara questioned, Ava apprehensive too.

“I suspect Captain Hunter showed Agent Sharpe a potential future timeline.  I cannot answer on behalf of Captain Hunter, but it seems like he needed to convince Agent Sharpe of her potential within the Bureau and convince her to stay and ultimately understand her worth. On top of that, he needed to guarantee Miss Lance’s safety, knowing if he showed Agent Sharpe such a devastating possible future timeline, she would choose to save her,”

“So, I was always going to save Sara?” Ava questioned, her brain still playing catch-up with the information Gideon was feeding them

“Precisely, Agent. It also helps to understand that the future is not set in concrete like the past, there is an infinite amount of concrete possibilities for the future, they don’t become definite until they occur. That being said, there was a greater chance Mallus would have got to Miss Lance had Captain Hunter not shown you the reality that could have been. It was a risky move on Captain Hunter’s behalf, but given Mallus’ strength Rip needed to do something to ensure it. I believe he has mentioned on multiple occasions how vital the Legends are in relation to defeating this demon,” Gideon explained in more detail.

“Thank you, Gideon,” Ava spoke, her feeling left unsure. The sense of relief overwhelming, pulling Sara into a hug.

“So you were always going to save me, huh?” Sara smirked smugly, untangling herself from the taller woman's hold.

“Shut up, you’re not going to make me regret it, are you?” Ava laughed.

“Nope, but it’s certainly nice to see you a little more relaxed,” Sara added, her smile reflecting that of the Agent's. “Now that we know we’re capable of actually talking things out, and figuring out solutions and well you know we have other things yet to discuss about some things, about us, you and me...” Sara words almost incoherent, dragging on longer as she bought herself some time before actually raising the question. Her nonsensical blabber acting like a protective blanket almost.

“What, Sara? Spit it out” Ava laughed, having not seeing Sara show signs of awkwardness before.

“Ava, you told me you cared about me,” she approached her slowly, “and we kissed,”

“I know, and yes that’s a thing that happened. Also yes, I said I care about you because I do and look I completely understand you’re not the relationship type. You know maybe if I wasn’t stuck on The Waverider, hooking up would be fun. I’d be totally down for that. But I know feelings aren't really your thing, Sara and I don’t want to force it on you. Maybe we should keep this thing between us strictly platonic for everyone’s sake?” Ava chewed nervously on the inside of her cheek, her eyes searching the blonde's, who played off the sting of hurt very well.

“Umm, Yeah! Cool, that’s totally cool with me…” Sara chuckled awkwardly, taking a step backwards, “I guess, I’m not really the relationship type am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading. 
> 
> That ending, I know and I'm sorry. 
> 
> So hopefully you'll be happy to know there is one more chapter after this, and possible an epilogue if people would like to see that too? let me know.  
> Unfortunately, after some time off I go back to work tomorrow and won't be able to post until next Sunday, possibly later than that depending on my schedule. I do apologise. 
> 
> All thoughts, opinions and comments are welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. 
> 
> I tried my best to make the whole time travel & Mallus manipulating time thing make sense, take it all with a grain of salt? Time travel and time in general is hella confusing when you try to overthink it.
> 
> Title comes from the song 'Someone to You' by BANNERS.


End file.
